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-CONTAINING- 


The  Lives  of  the  Greatest  Orators  and  their 
Best  Orations  from  Earliest  Times  to  Present 
Day  with  an  Account  of  Place  and  Time  of/ 
Delivery  of  Each   Oration    and    Explanatory 
Notes  on  Obscure  Passages. 


▲nUM  C»  Off  nCllTIDf  atlAT  ep®«u  m  B9«C| 


By  Charles  Morris, 

Author  of  "  Manual  of  Classical  Literature"  "  Half-Hours  with  Best  American 
Authors,"  "History  and  Triumphs  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  Etc.,  Etc.,  Etc 


Profusely  Illustrated  with  Great   Historic  Scenes  and 
Portraits  of  Brilliant  Orators^ 


THE  JOHN  C  WINSTON  Ca 

PHILADELPHIA  CHICAGO  TORONTO 


<^^ 


SENERAL    O-^r-fl^ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of 
Congress  in  tKe  year  1902  by 
W,  E.  SCULL,  in  the  office 
of  the  Librarian  of  Congress, 
at  Washington,  D.  C. 

All  Rights  Reserved 


THE   CHARACTERISTICS  OF  ORATORY 

AND  THE 

END,  AIM  AND  PURPOSE  OF  THIS  WORK 


ORATORY  is,  in  its  essential  elements,  the  oldest  of  the 
arts,  for  it  is  one  that  requires,  for  its  ordinary  exercise, 
no  other  equipment  than  fluency  of  speech  and  some 
degree  of  self-confidence  on  the  part  of  the  speaker.  It  has, 
therefore,  been  practiced  for  ages  past,  as  well  among  savage 
and  barbarous  tribes  as  among  civilized  peoples,  in  evidence  of 
which  may  be  mentioned  the  striking  examples  of  native  ora- 
tory attributed  to  the  American  Indians.  This  being  the  case, 
it  might  naturally  be  conceived  that  the  literature  of  civiliza- 
tion would  be  overflowing  with  oratorical  productions  of  high 
merit.  Yet  such  a  conclusion  would  be  by  no  means  a  safe 
one.  When  we  come  to  consider  the  abundant  examples  of 
oratory  on  record,  it  is  to  find  the  pure  gold  of  eloquence  often 
sadly  alloyed.  The  orations  of  supreme  merit,  those  which 
have  won  a  position  in  the  world's  best  literature,  are  few  in 
number,  and  the  list  of  world-famed  orators  is  less  extended 
than  in  almost  any  other  field  of  human  art. 

From  this  fact  we  can  but  conclude  that  the  necessary 
equipment  for  the  higher  type  of  oratory  demands  far  more 
than  mere  readiness  in  speech,  grace  in  gesture,  and  fluent 
command  of  language.  Back  of  these  accomplishments  must 
rest  superior  powers  of  thought,  logical  consistency  in  reason- 
ing, quickness  and  brilliancy  of  conception,  control  of  rhetorical 
expedients,  and  much  of  what  is  known  as  personal  magnetism. 


ii  THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  ORATORY 

the  ability  to  sway  the  feehngs  of  hearers  by  sympathetic 
warmth  of  utterance.  To  these  there  must  be  added,  for  emi- 
nent success  upon  the  rostrum,  rich  and  full  powers  of  voice, 
large  training  in  the  effective  use  of  language,  graceful  and 
commanding  attitudes  and  gestures,  and  all  those  personal 
qualities  which  give  a  living  force  to  spoken  words.  The  orator 
should  have  the  art  of  the  poet  as  well  as  the  force  of  the  rea- 
soner,  be  capable  of  clothing  his  thoughts  in  a  brilliant  cloak 
of  words  and  phrases,  of  controlling  the  feelings  as  well  as 
appealing  to  the  judgment  of  his  hearers,  in  short,  of  employ- 
ing all  the  expedients  of  which  language  is  susceptible,  all  the 
attraction  of  which  the  voice  and  person  are  capable,  and  all  the 
powers  of  thought  with  which  the  intellect  is  furnished. 

THE  EFFECT  OF  ORAHORY 

An  oration,  to  be  fully  appreciated,  must  be  heard,  not 
read.  Much  of  what  gave  it  force  and  effect  is  lost  when  it  is 
committed  to  print.  The  living  personality  is  gone — the  flash- 
ing eye,  the  vibrating  voice,  the  impetuous  gesture,  the  pas- 
sionate declamation,  the  swaying  and  sweeping  energy  of  elo- 
quence which  at  times  gives  to  meaningless  words  a  controlling 
force.  Much  is  lost,  but  by  no  means  all.  The  real  flesh  and 
blood  of  the  oration  is  left — its  logic,  its  truth,  its  quality  as  a 
product  of  the  intellect.  When  thus  read,  apart  from  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  the  orator  and  with  cool  and  judicial  mind, 
the  sophistry,  the  emptiness,  of  many  showy  orations  become 
pitifully  evident,  while  the  true  merit  of  the  really  great  effort 
grows  doubly  apparent.  No  longer  taken  captive  by  the 
speaker's  manner  and  the  external  aids  to  eloquence,  the 
reader  can  calmly  measure  and  weigh  Lis  words  and  thoughts, 
with  competence  to  reject  the  vapid  example  of  speech-making 
and  give  its  just  pre-eminence  to  the  truly  great  oration. 

From  what  is  above  said  it  should  be  evident  that  the 
powers  of  the  orator  are  not  alone  those  of  pure  reasoning, 
of  logic  reduced  to  its  finest  elements.     No  example  of  oratory 


THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  ORATORY  iii 

should  be  judged  from  such  a  point  of  view.  An  orator  is 
essentially  a  partisan.  He  takes  sides  almost  necessarily,  and 
is  apt  to  employ  any  means  at  his  command  to  give  the  suprem- 
acy to  his  own  side  of  the  question  at  issue.  He  is  the  counter- 
part, not  of  the  judge — who  calmly  and  logically  weighs  the 
two  sides  of  the  case  to  be  decided  and  seeks  to  avoid  preference 
to  either — but  of  the  advocate,  whose  aim  it  is  to  convince  the 
jury  that  his  own  side  is  the  correct  one,  and  who  does  this  by 
employing  every  sophistry,  every  trick  of  speech  and  argument, 
every  device  to  add  to  the  strength  of  his  client's  case  and 
lessen  that  of  his  opponent.  But  ordinarily  the  orator,  partisan 
though  he  may  be,  has  a  wider  audience  than  a  jury,  and  a 
higher  sense  of  duty  to  himself  and  his  hearers  than  is  usually 
to  be  found  in  a  jury  trial.  Though  it  may  be  his  purpose 
rather  to  convince  than  to  prove,  and  though  he  may  not  hesi- 
tate to  help  his  side  of  the  argument  by  oratorical  devices  and 
skillful  deceptions,  he  must  have  an  earnest  belief  in  the 
strength  and  cogency  of  his  own  cause  or  he  can  scarcely  hope 
to  succeed.  No  man  can  serve  God  and  Mammon.  The  great 
oration  must  come  from  the  heart  and  not  from  the  lips.  Yet 
it  is  not  enough  for  a  man  to  believe  in  his  cause  ;  his  cause 
as  well  as  his  belief  must  be  strong.  The  speech  which  does 
not  ring  true  to  a  judicious  reader  is  defective  either  in  its 
cause  or  its  advocate.  Sophistry  may  weigh  well  on  the  plat- 
form, but  it  becomes  hollow  and  empty  in  the  cabinet,  and  the 
merit  of  no  oration  can  be  justly  decided  upon  until  it  has  been 
put  to  the  test  of  the  reader's  mind. 

While,  therefore,  the  idea  is  widely  entertained  that  an 
oration  must  be  heard  to  be  truly  appreciated,  this  conception 
is  far  from  correct.  There  are  two  things  to  be  considered  in 
judging  every  oration  ;  the  real  quality  and  merit  of  the  thought 
expressed,  and  the  effect  of  delivery — the  speaker's  powers  of 
elocution  and  the  magnetic  influence  of  voice  and  personality. 
The  latter  has  often  an  immense  effect,  and  the  hearer  fre- 
quently leaves  the  presence  of  the  orator  convinced  against  the 


iv  THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  ORATORY 

decision  of  his  own  intellect,  taken  captive  by  the  personal 
powers  of  the  speaker.  To  learn  what  the  oration  really  con- 
tains, and  what  force  it  has  as  a  pure  expression  of  human 
thought,  it  must  be  read  and  weighed  by  the  mind  of  the  audi- 
tor when  in  a  cool  and  critical  state.  Under  such  conditions 
the  verdict  is  often  changed  and  the  weakness  and  emptiness 
of  what  may  have  seemed  irrefutable  arguments  are  exposed. 
For  this  reason  it  may  be  held  that  no  one  should  decide  as  to 
the  true  merit  of  an  oration  until  he  has  read  it,  and  the  really 
great  orations  can  be  enjoyed  by  the  reader  centuries  even 
after  they  were  delivered. 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  THIS  WORK 

In  the  present  work  an  effort  has  been  made  to  do  justice 
to  the  orator,  as  far  as  possible,  from  both  points  of  view. 
While  carefully  chosen  selections  from  notable  speeches  have 
been  made,  in  evidence  of  the  quality  of  thought  and  mode  of 
expression  of  each  person  dealt  with,  there  has  also  been  an 
endeavor  to  give  a  living  impression  of  his  personality.  For 
this  purpose  a  detailed  portrait  gallery  of  orators  has  been 
presented  to  the  reader,  that  he  may  see  them  "  in  their  habit 
as  they  lived  "  ;  the  special  occasion  which  gave  rise  to  each 
oration  is  cited  ;  and  a  sketch  is  given  in  the  instance  of  each 
orator  of  the  qualities  and  circumstances  to  which  he  owes  his 
fame  and  his  characteristics  as  a  man.  It  is  hoped  in  this  way 
to  give  a  degree  of  vital  personality  to  each  of  the  several  per- 
sons dealt  with,  and  as  fully  as  possible  to  put  them  on  the  stage 
before  the  reader ;  enabling  the  latter,  while  enjoying  the  elo- 
quence of  each  member  of  our  galaxy  of  orators,  at  the  same 
time,  in  some  measure,  to  behold  him  in  person,  to  catch  him, 
as  it  were,  in  the  act  of  deli^fery. 

Aside  from  the  endeavor  here  indicated,  it  is  the  purpose 
of  the  editor  of  this  work  to  offer  examples  of  oratory  selected 
from  the  choicest  orations  on  record  in  every  field  ;  chosen 
alike  from  the  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  in  this  art  and  those 


m 


THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  ORATORY  V 

of  lesser  yet  considerable  brilliancy.  It  need  scarcely  be-said 
that  oratorical  efforts  of  the  finest  quality  exist  in  several  of  the 
leading  fields  of  human  thought,  such  as  those  of  the  parliament- 
ary chamber,  the  political  rostrum  the  bar,  the  pulpit,  the  lecture 
platform  and  the  social  hall.  But  many  of  these  lack  interest  to 
the  general  reader.  In  making  selections  from  the  store  at  com- 
mand the  subject  as  well  as  the  manner  needs  to  be  carefully 
considered,  matters  of  local  or  temporary  character  losing  their 
force  and  potency  as  time  goes  on,  however  effective  they  may 
have  seemed  when  the  occasion  served.  The  legal  oration,  for 
example,  is  usually  of  passing  interest,  rarely  appealing  even 
at  the  time  to  more  than  a  few  persons,  and  seldom  having  a 
message  to  deliver  to  the  world.  The  parliamentary  oration, 
on  the  contrary,  which  deals  with  the  great  questions  of  govern- 
ment, political  and  national  relations  and  the  inherent  rights 
of  man,  is  apt  to  have  a  perennial  hold  upon  the  human  mind, 
keeping  its  interest  fresh  even  after  centuries  have  passed. 
These  are  the  two  extremes  between  which  it  is  necessary  to 
choose. 

A  DISTINCTIVE  FEATURE  OF  THIS  BOOK 

It  may  further  be  said  that  in  many  cases  the  orator  owes 
his  fame  largely  to  some  one  supreme  effort,  some  grand  dis- 
play of  his  powers  which  throws  all  others  into  the  shade,  and 
yields  us  the  product  of  his  intellect  and  force  of  expression 
at  their  highest  elevation„  This  is,  as  a  rule,  a  result  of  the 
incitement  of  some  stirring  contingency,  some  mighty  crisis 
which  can  be  justly  dealt  with  only  by  the  highest  powers  of 
thought  and  which  is  apt  to  arouse  the  orator  to  the  utmost 
exercise  of  his  faculties.  In  our  selections  we  have  been 
guided  in  a  measure  by  this  fact,  choosing  from  the  more 
famous  examples  of  oratory,  for  the  double  reason  that  these 
present  the  orator  at  his  best,  and  usually  deal  with  subjects 
of  permanent  interest  in  themselves — those  great  occasions  or 
events  of  history  which  never  grow  dull  or  stale,  but  retain 
their  freshness  through  the  ages. 


dq^Nri^^;®- 


-s^ 


PART  I. 
AMERICAN   ORAXORS 


BOOK  I. 

REVOLUTIONARY  ORATORS  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

■  PAGE 

^  Patrick  Henry      19 

An  Appeal  to  Arms 20 

James  Otis 23 

The  Writs  of  Assistance 24 

Joseph  Warren 26 

The  Boston  Massacre 27 

Samuel  Adams 29 

The  Struggle  for  Independence 30 

Alexander  Hamilton      32 

The  New  Constitution 33 

The  Stability  of  the  Union 36 

James  Madison 38 

The  American  Federal  Union 39 

Fisher  Ames      43 

The  Obligation  of  Treaties 44 

Henry  Lee     47 

The  Father  of  His  Country       48 

Gouverneur  Morris 53 

The  Free  Use  of  the  Mississippi 54 

John  Marshall 57 

The  Defence  of  Nash 58 

BOOK  II. 

THE  GOLDEN  AGE  OF  AMERICAN  ORATORY 

Josiah  Quincy 62 

The  Evils  of  the  Embargo  Act 63 

John  Randolph ' 66 

The  Tariff  and  the  Constitution 67 

vi 


CONTENTS  VU 

PAGE 

William  Wirt "69- 

Burr  and  Blennerhassett 70 

Henry  Clay 73 

The  American  System 74 

The  Horrors  of  Civil  War 76 

Robert  Y.  Hayne 79 

South  Carolina  and  the  Union 80 

Daniel  Webster 83 

The  Reply  to  Hayne       .    .  ' 84 

The  Secret  of  Murder 88 

John  0.  Calhoun     90 

South  Carolina  and  the  Union       91 

John  Quincy  Adams 94 

A  Eulogy  of  Lafayette 95 

Edward  Everett 98 

The  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Declaration 99 

Rufus  Choate 102 

A  Panegyric  of  Webster 103 

Thomas  H.  Benton 106 

Spanning  the  Continent      .    .    .    .   • 107 

Thomas  Oorwin 109 

The  Dismemberment  of  Mexico no 

John  J.  Crittenden ....112 

The  Strong  Against  the  Weak       113 

Thomas  F.  Marshall .  115 

The  States  and  the  Central  Government 116 

BOOK  III. 

ORATORS  OF   THE  CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD 

Abraham  Lincoln 120 

John  Brown  and  Republicanism 121 

The  Gettysburg  Address 122 

The  Second  Inaugural 123 

Stephen  A.  Douglas .  125 

Slavery  in  the  Territories 126 

Thaddeus  Stevens      129 

Fanaticism  and  Liberty 130 

Jefiferson  Davis 132 

Relations  of  North  and  South 133 

Alexander  H.  Stephens 135 

Separate  as  Billows,  but  One  as  the  Sea    .......  136 

Robert  Toombs 138 

The  Creed  of  Secession 139 

Charles  Sumner .   .       .   .  141 

The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations 142 

Wilham  H.  Seward 145 

America's  True  Greatness 146 


viii  CONTENTS 

FAGB 

Frederick  Douglass 148 

Free  Speech  in  Boston 149 

Henry  Winter  Davis 151 

The  Peril  of  the  Republic 152 

William  M.  Evarts 154 

A  Weak  Spot  in  the  American  System 155 

Schuyler  Colfax      157 

The  Confiscation  of  Slave  Property 158 

James  A.  Garfield 160 

The  Evil  Spirit  of  Disloyalty 161 

James  G.  Blaine 164 

A  Eulogy  of  Garfield 165 

BOOK   IV. 

RECENT  POLITICAL  ORATORS 

John  W.  Daniel 168 

Dedication  of  the  Washington  Monument 169 

Benjamin  H.  Hill 171 

A  Plea  for  Union 172 

Lucius  Q.  0.  Lamar 173 

Sumner  and  the  South 174 

George  F.  Hoar 176 

The  Ordinance  of  1787 176 

John  J.  Ingalls     179 

The  Undiscovered  Country .  180 

Roscoe  Oonkling 182 

The  Nomination  of  Grant 183 

Samuel  S.  Cox 185 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount 186 

Carl  Schurz 188 

Amnesty  for  the  Conquered      189 

Benjamin  Harrison 191 

Inaugural  Address       192 

William  McKinley      194 

The  Agencies  of  Modern  Prosperity 195 

Albert  J.  Beveridge 199 

Eulogy  of  the  Republican  Party 200 

The  Republic  Never  Retreats ••....  201 

Joseph  H.  Choate    . 203 

Farragut  at  Mobile 204 

Our  Pilgrim  Mothers      205 

Henry  W.  Grady 206 

The  New  South 207 

Henry  C.  Lodge 209 

A   Party  on  Live  Issues 210 

Joseph  B.  Foraker      212 

The  United  States  under  McKinley 213 


CONTENTS  ^^_____ix 

PAGR 

Thomas  B.  Reed     215 

Gifts  to  Liberal  Institutions 216 

William  J.  Bryan 218 

The  Cross  of  Gold      219 

Theodore  Roosevelt 221 

The  Strenuous  Life 222 

National  and  Industrial  Peace 224 

BOOK  V. 

THE   ORATORS   OF    CANADA 

Joseph  Howe 228 

Canada  and  the  United  States 229 

Sir  John  A.  MacDonald 230 

The  Treaty  of  Washington ...  231 

George  Brown      233 

The  Greatness  and  Destiny  of  Canada 234 

Nicholas  F.  Davin     236 

The  British  Colonial  Empire 237 

Sir  Charles  Tupper 238 

The  Protection  of  the  Fisheries 239 

Goldwin  Smith 241 

God  in  the  Universe 242 

Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 244 

Gladstone's  Elements  of  Greatness 245 

Riel  and  the  Government .  246 

Sir  John  Thompson 249 

The  Execution  of  Riel 250 

BOOK  VI. 

FAMOUS    PULPIT    ORATORS 

Lyman  Beecher 254 

The  Sacredness  of  the  Sabbath 255 

William  Ellery  Ohanning 256 

The  Rights  of  the  Individual 257 

The  Power  that  Moves  the  Age 258 

Theodore  Parker     , .   .  259 

The  Greatness  and  the  Weakness  of  Daniel  Webster    .    .    .  260 

Henry  Ward  Beecher 263 

lyincoln  Dead  and  a  Nation  in  Grief 264 

A  Corrupt  Public  Sentiment .  265 

Edwin  H.  Chapin .  267 

Christianity  the  Great  Element  of  Reform      267 

The  Triumphs  of  Labor 268 

The  Handwriting  on  the  Wall 269 

Phillips  Brooks 270 

The  Evil  that  Men  do  Lives  after  Them 271 


X  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

William  G.  Brownlow     273 

The  Union  and  the  Constitution 273 

Tribulations  in  Tennessee       274 

Robert  OoUyer 276 

Stopping  at  Haran       277 

Thomas  DeWitt  Talmage    .   .   .  • 279 

The  Upper  Forces  in  American  History 280 

Henry  Oodman  Potter 282 

The  Heroism  of  the  Unknown      283 

Frank  W.  Gunsaulus 285 

The  Tapestry  of  Anglo-Saxon  Civilization 286 

Dwight  L.  Moody 289 

God  is  Love      .        .    .    , 290 


BOOK  VII. 

LEADERS  IN  THE  LECTURE  FIELD 

Joseph  Story 294 

The  Destiny  of  the  Indian 295 

Hasty  Work  is  'Prentice  Work 296 

Sergeant  S.  Prentiss      297 

The  Pilgrims 298 

Wendell  Phillips     . 301 

John  Brown  and  Liberty 302 

Clear  Vision  versus  Education      304 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson 305 

Man  the  Reformer 306 

George  W.  Ciirtis     .....       308 

Wendell  Phillips  and  his  Life  Labor 309 

Joseph  Cook 311 

Efficient  but  not  Sufficient      . 312 

John  B.  Gough 314 

The  Temperance  Cause 315 

Rob-9rt  J.  IngersoU ^ 317 

Blaine  the  Plumed  Knight 318 

At  his  Brother's  Grave 319 

Henry  Armitt  Brown 321 

Men's  Progress  and  Problems 322 

Henry  Watterson 323 

A  Vision  of  American  History 324 

The  Puritan  and  the  Cavalier 325 

Charles  Francis  Adams 327 

The  Veterans  of  Gettysburg      328 

Grover  Cleveland 330 

Manual  Training  for  the  Colored  Race 331 

Booker  T.  Washington .  332 

Cast  Down  Your  Bucket  Where  You  Are 333 


CONTENTS  xi 


BOOK  VIII. 

NOTABLE  WOMEN  ORATORS 


PAGE 


Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton      336 

A  Plea  for  Equal  Rights 337 

An  Appeal  to  the  Law  Makers 338 

Susan  B.  Anthony *      ....  339 

Woman's  Right  to  the  Suffrage 340 

Mary  A.  Livermore 342 

The  Battle  of  Life      343 

Frances  E.  Willard 345 

Safeguards  for  Women 346 

Belva  Ann  Lockwood 348 

The  Political  Rights  of  Women 349 

Anna  E.  Dickinson 352 

Why  Colored  Men  should  Enlist 353 

BOOK   IX. 

SPEAKERS  ON    FESTIVE   OCCASIONS 

Chauncey  M.  Depew 356 

The  New  Netherlands 357 

Our  English  Visitors 358 

Liberty  Enlightening  the  World 359 

Whitelaw  Reid 360 

The  Press — Right  or  Wrong 361 

Edward  Everett  Hale 362 

New  England  Culture 363 

James  Russell  Lowell 364 

The  Kinship  of  England  and  America .    365 

Fitzhugh  Lee 367 

Harmony  under  the  Old  Flag 368 

Samuel  L.  Clemens 370 

Unconscious  Plagiarism XI  i^ 

Horace  Porter .   373 

The  Humor  and  Pathos  of  Lincoln's  Life      ....'...    374 
Joseph  Jefferson 376 

My  Farm  in  Jersey    . 377 

Charles  Emory  Smith 378 

The  Advantages  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers       379 

W.  Bourke  Oockran 380 

The  Soldier  and  The  Lawyer ....    381 

James  Proctor  Knott 383 

The  Mystery  of  Duluth 384 

Wu  Ting  Fang     387 

A  Wonderful  Nation      388 

John  Mitchell , 390 

An  Appeal  for  the  Miners      391 


CONTENTS 


PART   II. 
EUROPEAN  ORATORS 


BOOK  I. 

ORATORS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME 


PAGE 


Pericles 395 

The  Dead  who  Fell  for  Athens 396 

Lysias 398 

The  Crimes  of  Eratosthenes 399 

Isocrates     401 

Flattery  more  Powerful  than  Truth 401 

The  Principles  of  Good  Government 402 

The  Basis  of  a  Virtuous  Life 403 

Demosthenes 404 

Philip  the  Enemy  of  Athens 405 

On  the  Crown 407 

iEschines 410. 

Against  Ctesiphon    . ; 411 

"^Marcus  Porcius  Cato    ....       413 

Woman  in  Politics 414 

~^=Oaius  Gracchus 415 

,  The  People's  Rights  above  Privilege 416 

Oaius  Julius  Caesar 417 

The  Punishment  of  Catiline's  Associates 418 

4'  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero 420 

The  Treason  of  Catiline 421 

The  Cruelty  of  Verres 423 

1  Mark  Antony 425 

Brutus  Denounced 426 

BOOK  II. 

PULPIT  ORATORS  OF  MEDIiEVAL  EUROPE 

Saint  Augustine , 430 

The  Lord's  Prayer 431 

Saint  Chrysostom 432 

Death  a  Blessed  Dispensation 433 

Saint  Bernard 434 

The  Deliverance  of  the  Holy  Land 435 

Albertus  Magnus 436 

The  Significance  of  Christ's  Crucifixion 437 

Martin  Luther 438 

Defence  before  the  Diet  at  Worms 439 


CONTENTS  xiii 

-~ EAOE 

John  Calvin 441 

The  Courage  of  a  Christian 442 

Jacques  Benigne  Bossuet 443 

The  Death  of  the  Prince  of  Conde 444 

Louis  Bourdaloue 446 

The  Passion  of  Christ 447 

Francois  Fenelon 449 

God  Revealed  in  Nature 450 

Jean  Baptiste  Massillon 452 

The  Iniquity  of  Kvil  Speaking 453 

BOOK  III. 

ENGLISH  ORATORS  OF  THE  MIDDLE  PERIOD 

Francis  Bacon , 456 

The  Evils  of  Dueling .  457 

Sir  Edward  Coke 459 

The  Charges  in  Raleigh's  Case 460 

Sir  John  Eliot 461 

The  Perils  of  the  Kingdom 462 

John  Pym 463 

Law  the  Basis  of  Liberty 464 

Oliver  Cromwell 466 

The  Kingly  Title 467 

Earl  of  Chesterfield 468 

The  Drinking  Fund T  .    .    .    .  469 

BOOK  IV. 

THE  GOLDEN  AGE  OF  BRITISH  ORATORY 

Earl  of  Chatham 472 

Remove  the  Boston  Garrison 473 

The  War  in  America 474 

Edmund  Burke 476 

The  Impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings 477 

Marie  Antoinette , 480 

Charles  James  Fox    txt^-^>txtx$x^>4 481 

The  Tyranny  of  the  East  India  Company 482 

Liberty  is  Strength  and  Order 484 

Lord  Thomas  Erskine 485 

The  Governing  of  India 486 

Henry  Grattan «   .   .  489 

The  Rights  of  Ireland 490 

The  Epitaph  of  England 492 

John  Philpot  Curran 493 

The  Pension  System 493 

The  March  of  the  Mind 494 

The  Evidence  of  Mr.  O'Brien 495 


XIV  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan 496 

The  Arraignment  of  Warren  Hastings 496 

William  Wilberforce , 500 

Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade 501 

WiUiam  Pitt 502 

The  Peril  from  France 503 

Robert  Emmet 505 

A  Patriot's  Plea 506 


BOOK  V. 
ORATORS  OF   THE  VICTORIAN   REIGN 

Greorge  Canning 510 

In  Repose  Yet  in  Readiness 511 

Sydney  Smith 513 

The  Opponents  of  Reform    . 514 

Taxes  the  Price  of  Glory 516 

Daniel  O'Oonnell 517 

The  Charms  of  Kildare 518 

Lord  Henry  Brougham 521 

The  Industrial  Peril  of  War  in  America 522 

Viscount  Palmerston 524 

Civil  War  in  Ireland 525 

Sir  Robert  Peel 526 

The  Importance  of  Classical  Education 527 

Lord  John  Russell ...  529 

The  "  Rotten  Boroughs  "  of  England 530 

Importance  of  I^iterary  Studies 531 

Richard  L.  Sheil 533 

Irish  Aliens  and  English  Victories 534 

The  Horrors  of  Civil  War 535 

Thomas  Babington  Macaulay 536 

Superficial  Knowledge 537 

Richard  Oobden 540 

The  Gentry  and  the  Protective  System 541 

Disraeli,  Earl  of  Beaconsfield 543 

The  Dangers  of  Democracy 544 

William  Ewart  Gladstone 547 

Warfare  and  Colonization 548 

Home  Rule  for  Ireland 55 1 

John  Bright 553 

The  Crushing  Weight  of  Militarism 553 

Charles  S.  Parnell 557 

Evictions  and  Emigration 558 

Joseph  Chamberlain »   -  560 

The  Anomalies  of  the  Suffrage 561 


CONTENTS  XV 

BOOK    VI. 
THE  PULPIT  ORATORS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN 


PAGE 


Hugh  Latimer 564 

The  Sermon  of  the  Plow 565 

John  Knox 567 

God's  Power  Above  that  of  Things 568 

John  Wesley 569 

Irreligion  Among  College  People 570 

Greorge  Whitefield 572 

A  Warning  Against  Worldly  Ways 573 

Innocent  Diversions 574 

John  Henry  Newman 575 

The  Evils  of  Money  Getting ...  ^76 

Henry  Edward  Manning 578 

Rome  the  Eternal 579 

Arthur  Penrhyn  Stanley 581 

The  Lesson  of  Palmerston's  Life 582 

Charles  H.  Spurgeon 584 

The  Authorship  of  the  Bible 585 

Joseph  Parker , 587 

Human  Frivolity 588 

BOOK  VII. 

ORATORS  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

Count  Honore  de  Mirabeau 590 

V  And  yet  you  Deliberate 591 

The  Privileged  and  the  People 593 

Pierre  Vergniaud     595 

An  Appeal  to  the  People 596 

The  Despotism  of  the  Jacobins 597 

Greorge  Jacques  Danton 598 

Let  France  be  Free 599 

To  Dare;  Always  to  Dare ....  600 

Jean  Paul  Marat 601 

A  Defense  from  Impeachment 602 

Maximilien  Isidore  Robespierre 603 

A  Final  Appeal 604 

BOOK  VIII. 

NINETEENTH  CENTURY  ORATORS  OF  FRANCE 

Victor  Cousin 606 

Supremacy  of  the  Art  of  Poetry 607 

Alphonse  de  Lamartine  .   .   .   , 608 

What  is  the  French  Revolution? 609 

Safety  only  in  the  Republic 6io 


xvi  CONTENTS 

PAGB 

Louis  Adolphe  Thiers 6ii 

The  Wastefulness  of  the  Imperial  Finance 613 

Victor  Marie  Hugo 614 

Napoleon  the  Little 615 

Voltaire 617 

Leon  Gambetta 618 

The  Regeneration  of  France 620 

BOOK  IX. 

ORATORS  OF  SOUTHERN  AND  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Louis  Kossuth 622 

The  Haven  of  the  Oppressed 623 

Giuseppe  Mazzini 625 

The  Martyrs  of  Cosenza 626 

Count  Camillo  di  Cavour 628 

Rome  the  Capital  of  Italy 630 

Prince  Otto  von  Bismarck 631 

Loyalty  to  Prussia 632 

Prussia  and  the  New  Constitution 633 

Francesco  Orispi '     634 

The  Relations  of  the  Pope  to  the  State 635 

Emilio  Castelar 636 

Abraham  Lincoln 637 


American  Orators 


Book      I.  Revolutionary  Orators  of  the  United 
States 

Book     II.  The  Golden  Age  of  American  Oratory 

Book    III.  Orators  of  the  Civil  War  Period 

Book    IV.  Recent  Political  Orators 

Book     v.  Distinguished  Orators  of  Canada 

Book    VI.  Famous  Pulpit  Orators 

Book  VII.  Leaders  in  the  Lecture  Field 

Book  VIII.  Notable  Women  Orators 

Book    IX.  Speakers  on  Festive  Occasions 


17 


BOOK  L 

Orators  of  the  American  Revolution 

GREAT  occasions  bring  forth  great  men  and  lead 
to  great  events.  What  would  have  been 
known  of  Washington  but  for  the  struggle  for 
American  Independence,  of  Napoleon  but  for  the 
French  Revolution,  of  Grant  but  for  the  American 
Civil  War?  Men  like  these  would,  no  doubt,  have 
made  their  mark  under  any  circumstances,  but  their 
fame  would  have  been  limited  by  the  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity for  the  display  of  their  special  powers,  and 
the  history  of  their  achievements  would  not  have 
stirred  the  world      It  is  the  same  with  oratory  as  with 

f  other  branches  of  human  effort,  its  great  triumphs  have 
been  dependent  upon  great  exigencies  in  human  affairs. 
While    orators   have    been    as    numerous    almost    as 
I  autumn  leaves,   world-famous  orations  seem  as  few 
as  the  planets  of  our  solar  system.     The  orator  who 
would  win  fame  must  have,  not  only  fine  powers  of 
/  thought  and  expression,  but  the  impulse  of  momentous 
^events,  some  vast  stir  in  the  tide  of  history  to  call 
forth  his  genius  to  the  uttermost  and  to  give  his  words 
a  living  force  and  a  permanent  vitality. 

The  first  such  occasion  in  American  history  was 
that  exciting  era  which  gave  birth  to  the  American 
Republic.  It  is  the  stirring  events  of  this  history- 
making  epoch  that  produced  the  earliest  outburst  of 
American  oratory,  due  to  such  masters  of  the  art  as 
Henry,  Otis,  Ames,  Hamilton  and  their  contempora- 
ries, and  it  is  from  this  epoch,  therefore,  that  our 
first  selections  are  drawn. 

18 


PATRICK  HENRY  (J 736=  J 799) 

THE  BEACON-LIGHT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


LET  us  view  a  great  historical  picture.  Its  scene  is  the  Assembly 
hall  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia,  its  date  the  year 
— — ^  1765,  its  occasion  the  effort  of  the  King  and  Parliament  of  Eng- 
land to  tax  the  American  colonies  without  their  consent.  The  Bur- 
gesses had  met  in  protest  and  talked  weakly  about  the  Stamp  Act, 
which  was  stirring  up  America  to  its  depths,  but  were  on  the  point  of 
adjourning  without  taking  any  action,  when  a  tall  and  slender  man 
whom  few  of  them  knew  arose  in  their  midst.  It  was  a  new  member, 
a  lawyer  from  Louisa  County,  Patrick  Henry  by  name.  The  old  and 
influential  members  looked  with  displeasure  on  the  raw  newcomer, 
who  ventured  to  address  them  on  a  topic  which  they  had  feared  to 
deal  with  themselves.  They  were  the  more  annoyed  and  amazed 
when  he  offered  a  set  of  resolutions  setting  forth  that  the  Stamp  Act 
and  all  acts  of  Parliament  affecting  the  Colonies  were  contrary  to 
the  Constitution,  and  therefore  null  and  void,  and  that  the  Burgesses 
and  Governor  alone  had  the  right  to  levy  taxes  upon  the  people  of 
Virginia. 

This  daring  declaration  startled  the  more  timid  members  and  a 
storm  of  protests  arose,  but  they  failed  to  silence  the  young  orator,  who 
quickly  showed  himself  master  of  the  situation.  Never  had  the  old 
walls  of  Virginia's  legislative  hall  rung  with  such  mighty  words  as 
those  by  which  he  supported  his  resolution,  and  his  address  ended 
with  a  thunderbolt  of  defiant  eloquence  that  startled  the  world.  His 
vibrant  voice  rang  out  with  "Caesar  had  his  Brutus,  Charles  the  First 
his  Cromwell,  and  George  the  Third" — Loud  cries  of  ^'Treason  !  Trea- 
son !  "  from  the  frightened  Burgesses  interrupted  the  speaker.  Heed- 
less of  them  he  completed  his  sentence,  ^'may  profit  by  their  example. 

19 


20  PATRICK  HENRY 

If  this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it."  Plis  words  carried  the  hall  by 
storm;  the  resolutions  were  adopted;  and  from  that  day  to  this  Patrick 
Henry  has  been  hailed  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  American  orators. 

Henry  was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  which 
he  electrified  with  his  noble  oratory.  During  most  of  the  Revolu- 
tion he  was  Governor  of  Virginia  and  again  from  1784  to  1786,  poverty 
forcing  him  to  decline  other  elections  and  return  to  his  legal  practice. 
In  1788  he  opposed  the  new  Constitution,  being  a  strong  advocate  of 
State  independence.  His  speeches  in  this  cause  were  very  eloquent, 
but  the  Constitution  was  adopted.  In  1795  President  Washington 
offered  him  the  position  of  Secretary  of  State,  which  he  declined.  The 
following  year  he  was  again  elected  Governor  of  Virginia,  which  posi- 
tion he  also  declined.  During  the  exciting  events  of  1798  and  1799 
he  once  more  entered  the  political  field,  made  his  final  public  address, 
and  was  elected  to  the  Assembly.  He  died  before  he  could  take  his  seat. 

AN  APPEAL  TO  ARMS. 
[As  Patrick  Henry  had  hurled  the  first  defiance  against  Great>Britain  in  1765, 
he  was  the  first  to  make  an  open  appeal  to  arms  in  1775.  This  was  on  March  23d, 
three  weeks  before  the  fight  at  Lexington  precipitated  the  Revolution.  Henry  had 
returned  from  the  Continental  Congress  and  was  now  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Con- 
vention, with  Washington  for  one  of  his  colleagues.  Here  he  offered  a  resolution 
that  the  Colony  should  be  **put  into  a  state  of  defence,"  and  sustained  it  by  the  most 
brilliant  speech  to  which  the  Revolution  gave  rise.] 

Mr.  President  : 

No  man  thinks  more  highly  than  I  do  of  the  patriotism,  as  well  as 
abilities,  of  the  very  worthy  gentlemen  who  have  just  addressed  the  House. 
But  different  men  often  see  the  same  subject  in  different  lights  ^^and,  there- 
fore,! hope  it -will  not  be  thought  disrespectful  to  those  gentlemen,  i^ 
entertaining  as  I  do  opinions  of  a  character  very  opposite  to  theirs,  I 
shall  speak  forth  my  sentiments  freely  and  without  reser^.^*^  This  is  no 
"Hme'^for  ceremonj^.  The  question  before  the  House  is  one  of  awful  moment 
to  this  country.  C  For  my-own  part,  I  consider  it  as  nothing  less  than  a  ques- 
tion of  freedom  or  slavery  l^and  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  sub- 
ject ought  to  be  the  freedom  of  the  debate.  It  is  only  in  this  way  that  we 
can  hope  to  arrive  at  the  truth,  and  fulfil  the  great  responsibility  which 
we  hold  to  God  and  our  country,  jjshould  I  keep  back  my  opinions  at 
such  a  time,  through  fear  of  giving  offence,  I  should  consider  myself  a^ 
guilty  of  treason  towards  my  country,  and  of  an  act  of  disloyalty  toward 
the  Majesty  of  Heaven/ which  I  revere  above  all  earthly  kings.) 


PATRICK  HENRY'S  GREAT  SPEECH 

The  Orator  electrifies  his  audience  by  boldly  declaring  that  the 
Colonists  would  not  endure  the  oppression  of  the  Home  Govern- 
ment and  boldly  declares  for  Independence. 


PATRICK  HENRY  21 

Mr.  President,  it  is  natural  to  man  to  indulge  in  the  illusions  of  hope, 
wl^e-trt^-apt  ta  shut  our  ey^a  against  a  painful  truth,  and  listen.-to  the  song 
elthat-sif^n,  till  she  transforms  us  into  beasts.  ^Is  this  the  part  of  wise 
men,  engaged  in  a  great  and  arduous  struggle  for  liberty?  Are  we  dis- 
posed to  be  of  the  number  of  those,  who,  having  eyes,  see  not,  and  having 
ears,  hear  not,  the  things  which  so  nearly  concern  their  temporal  salva- 
tion? For  my  part,  whatever  anguish  of  spirit  it  may  cost,  I  am  willing 
to  know  the  whole  truth  ;  to  know  the  worst,  and  to  provide  for  it. 

I  have  but  one  lamp  by  which  my  feet  are  guided  ;  and  that  is  the 
lamp  of  experience.  I  know  of  no  way  of  judging  of  the  future  but  by 
the  past.  And  judging  by  the  past,  I  wish  to  know  what  there  has  been 
in  the  conduct  of  the  British  ministry  for  the  last  ten  years  to  justify  those 
hopes  with  which  gentlemen  have  been  pleased  to  solace  themselves  and 
the  House  ?  Is  it  that  insidious  smile  with  which  our  petition  has  been 
lately  received  ?  Trust  it  not,  sir  ;  it  will  prove  a  snare  to  your  feet. 
S«#!rrT2ot  yourscl-ves4o~be  beti^.yed-with'^  k  Ask  yourselves  how 

this  gracious  reception  of  our  petition  comports  with  those  warlike  pre- 
parations which  cover  our  waters  and  darken  our  land.  Are  fleets  and 
armies  necessary  to  a  work  of  love  and  reconciliation  ?  v  Have  we  shown 
o.urse-lv€«-aou,.tt« willing  to  be  reconciled  that  force  must  be  called  in  to 
win  back  our  love?  ;1<et  us  not  deceive  ourselves,  sir.  These  are  the 
implements  of  war  and  subjugation  ;  the  last  arguments  to  which  kings 
resort.  I  ask  gentlemen,  sfer,  what  means  this  martial  array,  if  its  purpose 
be  not  to  force  us  to  submission  ?  Gaa^^eatl^aea-aemgn  any  othgr  possi*^^ 
ble- mefeive-«fof-ife'?  (Has  Great  Britain  any  enemy,  in  this  quarter  of  the 
world,  to  call  for  all  this  accumulation  of  navies  and  armies  ?  No,  sir, 
she  has  none.  They  are  meant  for  us  :  they  can  be  meant  for  no  other. 
They  are  sent  over  to  bind  and  rivet  upjaa  us  those  chains  which  the  . 
British  ministry  have  been  so  long  forgin^^i_.  And  what  have  we  to  oppose 
to  them  ?  Shall  we  try  argument  ?  Sir,  we  have  been  trying  that  for  the 
last  ten  years .  Have  we  anything  new  to  offer  upon  the  subject  ?  Nothing, 
We  have  held  the  subject  up  in  every  light  of  which  it  is  capable  ;  but  it 
has  been  all  in  vain.  Shall  we  resort  to  entreaty  and  humble  supplica- 
tion ?  What  terms  shall  we  find  which  have  not  been  already  exhausted  ^7 
Let  us  not,  I  beseech  you,  sk,  deceive  ourselves  longer.  Stb:,  we  have 
done  everything  that  could  be  done,  to  avert  the  storm  which  is  now  com- 
ing on.  We  have  petitioned  ;  we  have  remonstrated ;  we  have  supplicated  ; 
we  have  prostrated  ourselves  before  the  throne,  and  have  implored  its 
interposition  to  arrest  the  tyrannical  hands  of  the  ministry  and  Parliament. 
Our  petitions  have  been  slighted  ;  our  remonstrances  have  produced  addi- 
tional violence  and  insult ;  our  supplications  have  been  disregarded  ;  and 


22  PATRICK  HENRY 

we  have  been  spurned,  with  contempt,  from  the  foot  of  the  throne  !  In 
vain,  after  these  things,  may  we  indulge  the  fond  hope  of  peace  and  recon- 
xiliation.  There  is  no  longer  any  room  for  hope.  If  we  wish  to  be  free — 
|if  we ymean  to  preserve  inviolate  those  inestimable  privileges  for  which  we 
ifav^been  so  long  con^endtttg-^^^f-W^  me^n  notlSasely  f 6  abandon  the  nobl«^ 
struggle  in  which  we  have  been  sd  long  engaged ^  and  which  we  havepledged 
ourselveSJiJ£5?e^^-t®^«ba:nd<5n,  iiTntil  the  glorious  object  of  our  contest  shall 
be  obtaine^;:^fve  must  fight  !  I  repcr.t  it,  sir,  we  must  fight  !  An  appeal 
to  arms  and  lo  the  God  of  Hosts  is  all  that  is  left  us  ! 

They  tell  us,  Wf,  that  we  are  weak  ;  unable  to  cope  with  so  formidable 
an  adversary.  But  when  shall  we  be  stronger  ?  Will  it  be  the  next  week, 
or  the  next  year  ?  Will  it  be  when  we  are  totally  disarmed,  and  when  a 
British  guard  shall  be  stationed  in  every  house  ?  Shall  we  gather  strength 
by  irresolution  and  inaction  ?  Shall  we  acquire  the  means  of  effectual  resis- 
tance by  lying  supinely  on  our  backs,  and  hugging  the  delusive  phantom 
of  hope  until  our  enemies  shall  have  bound  us  hand  and  foot?  9fr,  we 
are  not  weak,  if  we  make  the  proper  use  of  those  means  which  the  God  of 
Nature  hath  placed  in  our  power.  Three  millions  of  people,  armed  in  the 
holy  cause  of  liberty,  and  in  such  a  country  as  that  which  we  possess,  are 
invincible  by  any  force  which  our  enemy  can  send  against  us.  Besides, 
-iif ,  we  shall  not  fight  our  battles  alone.  There  is  a  just  God  who  presides 
over  the  destinies  of  nations,  and  who  will  raise  up  friends  to  fight  our 
battles  for  us.  The  battle,  Jl^-,  is  not  to  the  strong  alone;  it  is  to  the 
vigilant,  the  active,  the  brave.  Besides,  t^,  we  have  no  election.  If  we 
were  base  enough  to  desire  it,  it  is  now  too  late  to  retire  from  the  contest. 
There  is  no  retreat,  but  in  submission  and  slavery  !  Our  chains  are  forged  ! 
Their  clanking  may  be  heard  on  the  plains  of  Boston  !  The  war  is  inevit- 
able— and  let  it  come  !     I  repeat  it,  sir,  let  it  come  ! 

It  is  in  vain,  sir,  to  extenuate  the  matter.  Gentlemen  may  cry. 
Peace,  peace — but  there  is  no  peace.  The  war  is  actually  begun  !  The 
next  gale,  that  sweeps  from  the  north,  will  bring  to  our  ears  the  clash  of 
resounding  arms  !  Our  brethren  are  already  in  the  field  !  Why  stand  we 
here  idle  ?  What  is  it  that  gentlemen  wish  ?  What  would  they  have  ? 
Is  life  so  dear,  or  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at  the  price  of  chains 
and  slavery  ?  Forbid  it,  Almighty  God  !  I  know  not  what  course  others 
may  take ;  but  as  for  me,  give  me  liberty,  or  give  me  death  ! 


JAMES  OTIS  (17254783) 

FREEDOM'S  PIONEER  ADVOCATE 


TATJE  cannot  more  effectively  introduce  James  Otis  than  in  the 
11 1  words  of  President  John  Adams,  who  thus  describes  his  famous 
speech  on  the  "  Writs  of  Assistance."  *'  Otis  was  a  flame  of  fire. 
With  a  promptitude  of  classical  allusions,  a  depth  of  research,  a  rapid 
summary  of  historical  events  and  dates,  a  profusion  of  legal  authori- 
ties, a  prophetic  glance  of  his  eye  into  futurity,  and  a  rapid  torrent  of 
impetuous  eloquence,  he  carried  away  all  before  him.  American  inde- 
pendence was  then  and  there  born.  Every  man  of  an  immense 
crowded  audience  appeared  to  me  to  go  away  as  I  did,  ready  to  take 
arms  against  Writs  of  Assistance.  Then  and^  there  was  the  first  scene 
of  the  first  act  of  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  claims  of  Great  Britain." 
Otis,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  was  a  hard  student  in  youth  and 
became  one  of  Boston's  leading  lawyers.  He  had  a  taste  for  literature 
also,  and  wrote  as  well  as  spoke  ably.  When  opposition  to  the  tyranny 
of  King  and  Parliament  began  in  Massachusetts,  he  was  among  its 
prominent  advocates,  and  in  1761  was  selected  to  defend  the  mer- 
chants against  the  Crown  lawyers  on  the  legality  of  the  Writs  of 
Assistance.  This  was  the  occasion  of  the  great  speech  above  eulogized. 
He  afterwards  became  active  in  the  legislature,  but  in  1769  was 
attacked  by  an  enemy  and  so  severely  injured  that  his  reason  was 
shattered  and  his  usefulness  to  his  country  destroyed.  He  lived  to  see 
the  end  of  the  Revolution. 

THE  WRITS  OF  ASSISTANCE. 

[Hardly  had  George  the  Third  come  to  the  throne  in  1760  when  acts  of  oppres- 
sion against  the  Colonies  began.  The  severe  and  unjust  commercial  laws  had  roused 
much  opposition,  and  smuggling  had  become  so  common  that  the  duties  on  imports 
yielded  little  to  the  crown.     The  new  king  issued  orders  that  gave  the  revenue  ofl&cers 

23 


24  JAMES  OTIS 


I 


power  to  compel  sheriffs  and  constables  to  search  any  man's  house  which  they  thought 
might  contain  smuggled  goods,  by  issuing  what  were  called  '  *  Writs  of  Assistance. ' ' 
This  tyrannous  right  of  search  was  bitterly  resisted,  and  gave  occasion  to  Otis's  bril- 
liant speech. 

May  it  PI.KASK  Your  Honors  : 

I  was  desired  by  one  of  the  Court  to  look  into  the  books,  and  con- 
sideAi  the  question  now  before  them  concerning  Writs  of  Assistance.  I 
have  accordingly  considered  it,  and  now  appear  not  only  in  obedience  to 
your  order,  but  likewise  in  behalf  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  town,  who 
have  presented  another  petition ,  and  out  of  regard  to  the  liberties  of  the 
subject.  And  I  take  this  opportunity  to  declare,  that  whether  under  a  fee 
or  not  (for  in  such  a  cause  as  this  I  despise  a  fee),  I  will  to  my  dying  day 
oppose  with  all  the  powers  and  faculties  God  has  given  me  all  such  instru- 
ments of  slavery  on  the  one  hand,  and  villany  on  the  other,  as  this  Writ  of 
Assistance  is. 

It  appears  to  me  the  worst  instrument  of  arbitrary  power,  the  most 
destructive  of  English  liberty  and  the  fundamental  principles  of  law,  that 
ever  was  found  in  an  English  law  book.  I  must  therefore  beg  your 
honors'  patience  and  attention  to  the  whole  range  of  an  argument,  that 
may  perhaps  appear  uncommon  in  many  things  ;  as  well  as  to  points  of 
learning  that  are  more  remote  and  unusual :  that  the  whole  tendency  of  my 
design  may  the  more  easily  be  perceived,  the  conclusions  better  discerned, 
and  the  force  of  them  be  better  felt.  I  shall  not  think  much  of  my  pains 
in  this  cause,  as  I  engaged  in  it  from  principle.  I  was  solicited  to  argue 
this  cause  as  Advocate  General ;  and  because  I  would  not,  I  have  been 
charged  with  desertion  from  my  office.  To  this  charge  I  can  give  a 
very  sufficient  answer.  I  renounced  that  office,  and  I  argue  this  cause, 
from  the  same  principle ;  and  I  argue  it  with  the  greater  pleasure  as  it  is 
in  favor  of  British  liberty,  at  a  time  when  we  hear  the  greatest  monarch 
upon  earth  declaring  from  his  throne  that  he  glories  in  the  name  of  Briton, 
and  that  the  privileges  of  his  people  are  dearer  to  him  than  the  most  valu- 
able prerogatives  of  his  crown ;  and  as  it  is  in  opposition  to  a  kind  of 
power,  the  exercise  of  which  in  former  periods  of  history  cost  one  king 
of  England  his  head  and  another  his  throne.  I  have  taken  more  pains 
in -this  cause  than  I  ever  will  take  again,  although  my  engaging  in  this 
and  another  popular  cause  has  raised  much  resentment.  But  I  think  I  can 
sincerely  declare,  that  I  cheerfully  submit  myself  to  every  odious  name 
for  conscience'  sake ;  and  from  my  soul  I  despise  all  those  whose  guilt, 
malice,  or  folly  has  made  them  my  foes.  Let  the  consequences  be  what 
they  will,  I  am  determined  to  proceed.  The  only  principles  of  public 
conduct  that  are  worthy  of  a  gentleman  or  a  man,  are  to  sacrifice  estate, 


JAMES  OTIS  25 

ease,  health  and  applause,  and  even  life,  to  the  sacred  calls  of  his  country. 
These  manly  sentiments,  in  private  life,  make  the  good  citizen;  in  public  life, 
the  patriot  and  the  hero.  I  do  not  say,  that  when  brought  to  the  test  I 
shall  be  invincible.  I  pray  God  I  may  never  be  brought  to  the  melancholy 
trial,  but  if  ever  I  should,  it  will  be  then  known  how  far  I  can  reduce  to 
practice  principles  which  I  know  to  be  founded  in  truth 

I  admit  that  special  Writs  of  Assistance,  to  search  special  places,  may 
be  granted  to  certain  persons  on  oath  ;  but  I  deny  that  the  writ  now  prayed 
for  can  be  granted,  for  I  beg  leave  to  make  some  observations  on  the  writ 
itself,  before  I  proceed  to  other  acts  of  Parliament.  In  the  first  place,  the 
writ  is  universal,  being  directed  "to  all  and  singular  justices,  sheriffs, 
constables,  and  all  other  officers  and  subjects;  "  so  that,  in  short,  it  is 
directed  to  every  subject  in  the  King's  dominions.  Bvery  one  with  this 
writ  may  be  a  tyrant ;  if  this  commission  be  legal,  a  tyrant  in  a  legal 
manner  also  may  control,  imprison,  or  murder  any  one  within  the  realm. 
In  the  next  place,  it  is  perpetual,  there  is  no  return.  A  man  is  account- 
able to  no  person  for  his  doings.  Every  man  may  reign  secure  in  his  petty 
tyranny,  and  spread  terror  and  desolation  around  him,  until  the  trump 
of  the  archangel  shall  excite  different  emotions  in  his  soul.  In  the  third 
place,  a  person  with  this  writ,  in  the  daytime,  may  enter  all  houses,  shops, 
etc.,  at  will,  and  command  all  to  assist  him.  Fourthly,  by  this  writ,  not 
only  deputies,  etc.,  but  even  their  menial  servants,  are  allowed  to  lord  it 
over  us.  What  is  this  but  to  have  the  curse  of  Canaan  with  a  witness  on 
us  ;  to  be  the  servant  oi  servants,  the  most  despicable  of  God's  creation  ? 
Now  one  of  the  most  essential  branches  of  English  liberty  is  the  freedom 
of  one's  house.  A  man's  house  is  his  castle  ;  and  whilst  he  is  quiet,  he 
is  as  well  guarded  as  a  prince  in  his  castle.  This  writ,  if  it  should  be 
delcared  legal,  would  totally  annihilate  this  privilege.  Custom-house 
officers  may  enter  our  houses  when  they  please ;  we  are  commanded  to 
permit  their  entry.  Their  menial  servants  may  enter,  may  break  locks,  bars 
and  everything  in  their  way  ;  and  whether  they  break  through  malice  or 
revenge,  no  man,  no  court,  can  inquire.  Bare  suspicion  without  oath  is 
sufficent 

The  words  are,  "  It  shall  be  lawful  for  any  person  or  persons  author- 
ized, etc."  What  a  scene  does  this  open!  Every  man  prompted  by 
revenge,  ill-humor,  or  wantonness,  to  inspect  the  inside  of  his  neighbor's 
house,  may  get  a  Writ  of  Assistance.  Others  will  ask  for  it  from  self- 
defence.  One  arbitrary  exertion  will  provoke  another,  until  society  be 
involved  in  tumult  and  in  blood. 


JOSEPH  WARREN  (J 7414 775) 

THE  MARTYR  OF  BUNKER  HILL 


AMONG  the  pathetic  events  of  the  Revolutionary  War  there  are 
none  that  have  appealed  more  to  the  sympathy  of  the  American 
•—^  people  than  the  death  of  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  one  of  the  patriots, 
at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  Warren,  a  native  of  Roxbury,  Massachu- 
setts, had  made  himself  eminent  as  a  physician,  and  in  those  exciting 
years  at  Boston  that  ushered  in  the  American  Revolution  was  one  of 
the  most  earnest  advocates  of  the  people's  rights,  supporting  the  cause 
of  the  Colonies  by  pen  and  voice.  Of  his  orations,  the  most  fervent 
and  brilliant  was  that  delivered  in  Boston  on  March  6,  1775,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  ^'Boston  Massacre'^  of  five  years  before.  On  April 
18th  it  was  he  who  sent  out  Paul  Revere,  on  his  memorable  night 
ride  to  warn  the  patriots  at  Concord  of  the  coming  of  the  British  sol- 
diers. With  the  events  of  the  next  day  the  Revolution  began. 
Warren  threw  himself  with  his  whole  soul  into  the  contest.  As  Presi- 
dent of  the  Provincial  Congress,  he  displayed  an  eminent  fitness  to 
meet  the  emergencies  of  the  time.  On  June  14,  1775,  he  was  appoin- 
ted a  major-general,  and  two  days  afterwards  took  an  active  part  in 
the  occupation  of  Bunker  Hill.  ^'As  surely  as  you  go  there  you  will 
be  slain,''  said  Elbridge  Gerry  to  him.  Warren  replied  with  a  Latin 
quotation,  signifying,"'' It  is  pleasant  and  honorable  to  die  for  one's 
country."  On  the  morning  of  the  fight  he  rode  to  the  field.  Colonel 
Prescott,  the  veteran  commander,  offered  him  the  command,  but  War- 
ren declined,  saying  that  he  had  come  as  a  volunteer  and  to  learn  the 
art  of  war  from  an  able  soldier.  Borrowing  a  musket,  he  plunged 
into  the  thick  of  the  fight,  encouraging  the  troops  by  his  courage  and 
daring.  After  the  Americans  had  fired  their  last  bullet  and  turned 
to  retreat,  Warren  was  one  of  the  very  last  to  leave  the  field.     As  he 

26 


JOSEPH  WARREN  27 

reluctantly  retired  a  bullet  struck  him  in  the  head,  and  he^fett,~the 
first  illustrious  victim  to  the  patriots'  cause.  His  death  was  mourned 
with  the  deepest  sorrow,  and  added  to  the  determination  of  the  colon- 
ists to  fight  to  the  end  for  their  liberties. 

THE  BOSTON  MASSACRE 

[All  readers  of  history  are  probably  familiar  with  the  event  of  March  6,  1770, 
when  a  body  of  British  soldiers,  irritated  by  the  taunts  of  a  throng  of  Bostonians,  fired 
upon  them,  a  number  falling  dead  and  wounded.  This  event,  which  became  known 
as  the  '*  Boston  Massacre,"  produced  an  intense  sensation  in  city  and  country.  Dr. 
Warren  delivered  two  anniversary  orations  on  it,  one  in  1772  and  the  other  in  1775. 
The  latter  was  in  defiance  of  the  British  soldiery,  who  had  threatened  to  shoot  anyone 
who  dared  speak  on  the  subject.  Warren  contemned  their  threats  and  delivered  at  Old 
South  Church  an  impassioned  address,  from  which  we  make  the  following  selection.] 

Could  it  have  been  conceived  that  we  should  have  seen  a  British  army 
in  our  land,  sent  to  enforce  obedience  to  acts  of  Parliament  destructive  to 
our  liberty  ?  But  the  royal  ear,  far  distant  from  this  western  world,  has 
been  assaulted  by  the  tongue  of  slander  ;  and  villains,  traitorous  alike  to 
king  and  country,  have  prevailed  upon  a  gracious  prince  to  clothe  his 
countenance  with  wrath,  and  to  erect  the  hostile  banner  against  a  people 
ever  affectionate  and  loyal  to  him  and  his  illustrious  predecessors  of 
the  House  of  Hanover.  Our  streets  are  filled  with  armed  men  ;  our 
harbor  is  crowded  with  ships  of  war  :  but  these  cannot  intimidate  us  ;  our 
liberty  must  be  preserved  ;  it  is  far  dearer  than  life — we  hold  it  even  dear 
as  our  allegiance  ;  we  must  defend  it  against  the  attacks  of  friends  as  well 
as  enemies  ;  we  cannot  suffer  even  Britons  to  ravish  it  from  us. 

No  longer  could  we  reflect  with  generous  pride  on  the  heroic  actions 
of  our  American  forefathers ;  no  longer  boast  our  origin  from  that  far-famed 
island  whose  warlike  sons  have  so  often  drawn  their  well-tried  swords  to 
save  her  from  the  ravages  of  tyranny  ;  could  we,  but  for  a  moment,  enter- 
tain the  thought  of  giving  up  our  liberty.  The  man  who  meanly  will  sub- 
mit to  wear  a  shackle  contemns  the  noblest  gift  of  heaven,  and  impiously 
affronts  the  God  that  made  him  free. 

It  was  a  maxim  of  the  Roman  people,  which  eminently  conduced  to 
the  greatness  of  that  state,  never  to  despair  of  the  commonwealth.  The 
maxim  may  prove  as  salutary  to  us  now  as  it  did  to  them.  Short-sighted 
mortals  see  not  the  numerous  links  of  small  and  great  events,  which  form 
the  chain  on  which  the  fate  of  kings  and  nations  is  suspended.  Ease  and 
prosperity,  though  pleasing  for  a  day,  have  often  sunk  a  people  into 
effeminacy  and  sloth.  Hardships  and  dangers,  though  we  forever  strive 
to  shun  them,  have  frequently  called  forth  such  virtues  as  have  com- 
manded the  applause  and  reverence  of  an  admiring  world.     Our  country 


28 


JOSEPH  WARREN 


loudly  calls  you  to  be  circumspect,  vigilant,  active  and  brave.  Perhaps 
(all  gracious  Heaven  avert  it),  perhaps  the  power  of  Britain,  a  nation 
great  in  war,  by  some  malignant  influence  may  be  employed  to  enslave 
you ;  but  let  not  even  this  discourage  you.  Her  arms,  'tis  true,  have 
filled  the  world  with  terror  ;  her  troops  have  reaped  the  laurels  of  the  field ; 
her  fleets  have  rode  triumphant  on  the  sea  :  and  when,  or  where,  did  you, 
my  countrymen,  depart  inglorious  from  the  field  of  fight?  You  too  can 
show  the  trophies  of  your  forefathers'  victories  and  your  own  ;  can  name 
the  fortresses  and  battles  you  have  won  ;  and  many  of  you  count  the  honor- 
able scars  of  wounds  received  whilst  fighting  for  your  king  and  country. 

Where  Justice  is  the  standard.  Heaven  is  the  warrior's  shield  :  but 
conscious  guilt  unnerves  the  arm  that  lifts  the  sword  against  the  innocent. 
Britain,  united  with  these  colonies  by  commerce  and  affection,  by  interest 
and  blood,may  mock  the  threats  of  France  and  Spain,  may  be  the  seat  of 
universal  empire.  But  should  America,  either  by  force,  or  those  more 
dangerous  engines,  luxury  and  corruption,  ever  be  brought  into  a  state  of 
vassalage,  Britain  must  lose  her  freedom  alscf.  No  longer  shall  she  sit  the 
empress  of  the  sea  ;  her  ships  no  more  shall  waft  her  thunders  over  the 
wide  ocean  ;  the  wreath  shall  wither  on  her  temples  ;  her  weakened  arm 
shall  be  unable  to  defend  her  coasts  ;  and  she,  at  last,  must  bow  her  vener- 
able head  to  some  proud  foreigner's  despotic  rule 

But  my  fellow-citizens,  I  know  you  want  not  zeal  or  fortitude.  You 
will  maintain  your  rights,  or  perish  in  the  generous  struggle.  However 
difficult  the  combat,  you  never  will  decline  it  when  freedom  is  the  prize. 
An  independence  of  Great  Britain  is  not  our  aim.  No,  our  wish  is  that 
Britain  and  the  colonies  may,  like  the  oak  and  ivy,  grow  and  increase  in 
strength  together.  But  whilst  the  infatuated  plan  of  making  one  part  of  the 
empire  slaves  to  the  other  is  persisted  in,  the  interests  and  safety  of  Britain, 
as  well  as  the  colonies,  require  that  the  wise  measures,  recommended  by 
the  honorable  the  Continental  Congress,  be  steadily  pursued  ;  whereby 
the  unnatural  contest  between  a  parent  honored  and  a  child  beloved  may 
probably  be  brought  to  such  an  issue,  as  that  the  peace  and  happiness  of 
both  may  be  established  upon  a  lasting  basis.  But  if  these  pacific  meas- 
ures are  ineffectual,  and  it  appears  that  the  only  way  to  safety  is  through 
fields  of  blood,  I  know  you  will  not  turn  your  faces  from  your  foes,  but 
will  undauntedly  press  forward,  until  t5nranny  is  trodden  under  foot,  and 
you  have  fixed  your  adored  goddess  Liberty  on  the  American  throne. 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  (t  7224  803) 

LEADER  OF  THE  BOSTON  PATRIOTS 


BROM  1760  to  1775  Boston  was  the  hotbed  of  resistance  to  British 
oppression.  On  it  the  hand  of  George  III.  descended  with  crush- 
ing weight,  and  a  stalwart  group  of  patriots  defied  the  efforts  of 
those  whom  they  deemed  their  mortal  enemies.  Foremost  among 
these  was  Samuel  Adams,  who  led  in  all  the  movements  against  *'  tax- 
ation without  representation/^  and  by  his  fervid  oratory  kept  the 
spirit  of  resistance  alive.  Poor  though  he  was,  he  could  not  be.  bought, 
though  more  than  once  an  effort  to  bribe  him  to  desert  the  cause  of 
the  people  was  made.  "  Come,  friend  Samuel,"  said  to  him  Mather 
Byles,  a  Tory  clergyman  of  Boston,  "  let  us  relinquish  republican 
phantoms  and  attend  to  our  fields."  "  Very  well,"  he  replied,  "  you 
attend  to  the  planting  of  liberty  and  I  will  grub  up  the  taxes.  Thus 
we  shall  have  pleasant  places." 

He  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the  celebrated  "  Boston  Tea  Party." 
On  December  16,  1773,  when  the  tea-ships  lay  in  the  harbor,  a  great 
town  meeting  was  held,  in  which  Adams  and  others  took  prominent 
part.  When  night  had  fallen  he  rose  and  said :  ''  This  meeting  can 
do  nothing  more  to  save  the  country."  These  words  seemed  a  signal, 
a  war-whoop  was  heard  at  the  door,  and  a  party  of  men  disguised  as 
Indians  rushed  impetuously  to  the  wharf,  boarded  the  ships,  and 
flung  the  tea  to  the  fishes  of  the  harbor.  This  event  and  the  action 
of  the  king  in  response  thereto,  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  precipi- 
tating the  Revolution. 

Adams  became  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  and  was 
one  of  the  most  earnest  and  unflinching  of  those  who  labored  for  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  The  signing  of  the  Declaration  gave 
occasion  for  the  delivery  of  the  only  example  we  possess  of  his  fervent 

29 


80  SAMUEL  ADAMS 

oratory.  Adams  continued  in  Congress  during  the  war,  and  after- 
wards remained  a  prominent  figure  in  Massachusetts  politics,  being 
Governor  from  1795  to  1797.     He  died  in  1803  at  a  good  old  age. 

THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE 
[The  only  extant  speech  of  Samuel  Adams  was  delivered  at  the  State  House 
in  Philadelphia,  to  a  very  numerous  audience,  on  the  ist.  of  August,  1776,  its  subject 
being  American  Independence.     We  give  its  eloquent  and  inspiring  peroration.] 

If  there  is  any  man  so  base  or  so  weak  as  to  prefer  a  dependence  on 
Great  Britain,  to  the  dignity  and  happiness  of  living  a  member  of  a  free 
and  independent  nation,  let  me  tell  him  that  necessity  now  demands  what 
the  generous  principle  of  patriotism  should  have  dictated.  We  have  now 
no  other  alternative  than  independence,  or  the  most  ignominious  and  gall- 
ing servitude.  The  legions  of  our  enemies  thicken  on  our  plains  ;  desola- 
tion and  death  mark  their  bloody  career ;  whilst  the  mangled  corpses  of 
our  countrymen  seem  to  cry  out  to  us  as  a  voice  from  heaven  :  * '  Will  you 
permit  our  posterity  to  groan  under  the  galling  chains  of  our  murderers  ? 
Has  our  blood  been  expended  in  vain  ?  Is  the  only  reward  which  our 
constancy,  till  death,  has  obtained  for  our  country,  that  it  should  be  sunk 
into  a  deeper  and  more  ignominious  vassalage  ?  ' '  Recollect  who  are  the 
men  that  demand  your  submission  ;  to  whose  decrees  you  are  invited  to 
pay  obedience  !  Men  who,  unmindful  of  their  relation  to  you  as  brethren, 
of  your  long  implicit  submission  to  their  laws  ;  of  the  sacrifice  which  you 
and  your  forefathers  made  of  your  natural  advantages  for  commerce  to 
their  avarice,  formed  a  deliberate  plan  to  wrest  from  you  the  small  pit- 
tance of  property  which  they  had  permitted  you  to  acquire.  Remember 
that  the  men  who  wish  to  rule  over  you  are  they  who,  in  pursuit  of  this 
plan  of  despotism,  annulled  the  sacred  contracts  which  had  been  made 
with  your  ancestors ;  conveyed  into  your  cities  a  mercenary  soldiery  to 
compel  you  to  submission  by  insult  and  murder,  who  called  your  patience, 
cowardice ;  your  piety,  hypocrisy. 

Countrymen  !  the  men  who  now  invite  you  to  surrender  your  rights 
into  their  hands  are  the  men  who  have  let  loose  the  merciless  savages  to 
riot  in  the  blood  of  their  brethren,  who  have  taught  treachery  to  your 
slaves,  and  courted  them  to  assassinate  your  wives  and  children.  These 
are  the  men  to  whom  we  are  exhorted  to  sacrifice  the  blessings  which  Pro- 
vidence holds  out  to  us — the  happiness,  the  dignity  of  uncontrolled  free- 
dom and  independence.  Let  not  your  generous  indignation  be  directed 
against  any  among  us  who  may  advise  so  absurd  and  maddening  a  meas- 
ure. Their  number  is  but  few  and  daily  decreases ;  and  the  spirit  which  can 
render  them  patient  of  slavery  will  render  them  contemptible  enemies. 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  31 

Our  Union  is  now  complete ;  our  Constitution  composed,  established, 
and  approved.  You  are  now  the  guardians  of  your  own  liberties.  We 
may  justly  address  you,  as  the  Decemviri  did  the  Romans,  and  say — 
"  Nothing  that  we  propose  can  pass  into  a  law  without  your  consent.  Be 
yourselves,  O  Americans,  the  authors  of  those  laws  on  which  your  hap- 
piness depends." 

You  have  now  in  the  field  armies  sufficient  to  repel  the  whole  force 
of  your  enemies  and  their  base  and  mercenary  auxiliaries.  The  hearts  of 
your  soldiers  beat  high  with  the  spirit  of  freedom — they  are  animated 
with  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and,  while  they  grasp  their  swords,  can 
look  up  to  Heaven  for  assistance.  Your  adversaries  are  composed  of 
wretches  who  laugh  at  the  rights  of  humanity,  who  turn  religion  into  deri- 
sion, and  would,  for  higher  wages,  direct  their  swords  against  their  leaders, 
or  their  country.  Go  on,  then,  in  your  generous  enterprise,  with  grati- 
tude to  Heaven  for  past  success,  and  confidence  of  it  in  the  future.  For 
my  own  part,  I  ask  no  greater  blessing  than  to  share  with  you  the  com- 
mon danger  and  common  glory.  If  I  have  a  wish  dearer  to  my  soul  than 
that  my  ashes  may  be  mingled  with  those  of  a  Warren  and  Montgomery 
— it  is,  that  these  American  States  may  never  cease  to  be  free  and 
independent. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  (J 757- J 804) 

THE  CREATOR  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVENUE 


I  T  JN"  a  noble  speech  by  Daniel  Webster  we  read  the  following  pass- 
I  I  I  ^S^ '  "  How  he  fulfilled  the  duties  of  such  a  place,  at  such  a 
time,  the  whole  country  perceived  with  delight  and  the  whole 
world  saw  with  admiration.  He  smote  the  rock  of  the  national 
resources  and  abundant  streams  of  revenue  gushed  forth.  He  touched 
the  dead  corpse  of  the  public  credit,  and  it  sprang  upon  its  feet.  The 
fabled  birth  of  Minerva,  from  the  brain  of  Jove,  was  hardly  more 
sudden  and  more  perfect  than  the  financial  system  of  the  United 
States,  as  it  burst  forth  from  the  conceptions  of  Alexander  Hamilton." 

We  can  add  little  to  this  splendid  outburst  of  poetic  oratory.  In 
1789,  when  the  Government  of  the  United  States  under  the  Constitu- 
tion was  organized  and  Alexander  Hamilton  was  made  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  by  President  Washington,  the  finances  of  the  new  republic 
were  in  a  deplorable  state.  The  country  was  drowned  in  debt  and 
practically  bankrupt.  The  expenses  of  the  Revolution  had  been 
mainly  met  with  paper  money,  which  had  become  more  worthless 
than  the  paper  on  which  it  was  printed.  During  the  years  after  the 
war  the  government  had  been  carried  on  almost  without  money.  It 
was  obliged  to  beg  the  states  for  every  penny  it  needed,  and  it  often 
begged  in  vain.  The  new  government  began  with  an  empty  purse 
and  a  ruined  credit.  All  this  was  reversed  by  Hamilton's  magic 
touch.  Within  a  year's  time  the  country's  credit  was  restored,  its 
purse  was  filled,  and  its  great  financial  career  had  fairly  begun.  This 
is  the  work  which  Webster  so  highly  eulogized.  Its  details  may  be 
found  in  the  financial  history  of  the  United  States. 

Alexander  Hamilton  was  a  man  brimful  of  talents,  in  his  way 
as  remarkable  as  Washington  himself  Coming  from  his  birthplace 
32 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  33 

in  the  West  Indies  to  the  United  States  in  1772,  a  boy  of  fifteen,  he 
soon  began  to  make  his  power  felt,  and  in  1774,  still  a  small,  slender 
lad,  he  made  a  striking  speech  before  a  great  meeting  in  New  York,  in 
which  he  denounced  Great  Britain,  called  upon  the  colonies  to  resist, 
'^and  described  the  waves  of  rebellion  sparkling  with  fire,  and  washing 
back  upon  the  shores  of  England  the  wrecks  of  her  power,  her  wealth, 
and  her  glory." 

This  wonderful  boy  grew  into  a  remarkable  man.  When  the 
war  broke  out,  he  entered  the  army  and  fought  with  distinguished 
valor  in  the  battles  from  Brooklyn  to  Trenton  and  Princeton.  He 
afterwards  became  military  secretary  to  Washington,  and  showed  that 
he  could  write  as  ably  as  he  could  fight.  At  Yorktown  he  was  in 
arms  again,  and  made  a  brilliant  attack  on  the  British  works.  The 
war  ended,  he  took  an  active  part  in  striving  to  adjust  the  wrecked 
finances  of  the  country,  aiding  Robert  Morris  in  this  work.  The  first 
bank  of  the  United  States  was  suggested  by  him.  No  man  was  more 
active  than  he  in  bringing  about  the  convention  to  form  a  new  Consti- 
tution, and  no  man  aided  it  more  with  voice  and  pen.  His  papers, 
published  in  the  Federalist,  are  the  most  valuable  parts  of  our  Consti- 
tutional history.  His  speeches  on  the  same  subject  are  welcome 
additions  to  our  oratory.  His  work  as  a  member  of  Washington's 
cabinet  was  beyond  praise.  As  a  lawyer,  he  was  among  the  ablest 
the  country  possessed.  And  when,  in  1804,  he  fell  a  victim  to  the 
bullet  of  Aaron  Burr,  the  whole  land  put  on  sackcloth  and  ashes  for 
the  loss  of  its  ablest  statesman  and  financier.  His  name  will  always 
stand  high  in  the  list  of  those  eminent  citizens  to  whom  this  country 
owes  its  greatness  and  its  prosperity. 

THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION 

[Hamilton's  work  for  the  Constitution  was  not  confined  to  his  labors  leading 
up  to  it  and  on  the  floor  of  the  Convention,  and  his  brilliant  writings  in  its  defence. 
Still  more  able  were  his  efforts  to  overcome  the  bitter  opposition  in  the  State  of  New 
York  to  the  ratification  of  the  new  Constitution.  Day  after  day,  and  week  after 
week  he  worked  in  the  New  York  Convention,  fighting  the  enemies  of  that  invaluable 
state  paper  with  voice  and  pen,  showing  the  fatal  defects  of  the  old  Confederation  and 
the  ruin  that  would  come  upon  the  country  if  the  Constitution  were  not  adopted  and 
the  Union  formed,  and  finally  winning  against  the  marshalled  forces  of  its  foes.  From 
his  many  speeches  on  this  subject  we  are  obliged  to  content  ourselves  with  a  brief 
extract  in  illustration  of  his  style.] 

3 


34  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON 

Mr.  Chairman  :  The  honorable  member,  who  spoke  yesterday,  went 
into  an  explanation  of  a  variety  of  circumstances  to  prove  the  expedi- 
ency of  a  change  in  our  national  government,  and  the  necessity  of  a  firm 
union ;  at  the  same  time,  he  described  the  great  advantages  which  this 
State,  in  particular,  receives  from  the  Confederacy,  and  its  peculiar  weak- 
nesses when  abstracted  from  the  Union.  In  doing  this,  he  advanced  a 
variety  of  arguments,  which  deserve  serious  consideration.  Gentlemen 
have  this  day  come  forward  to  answer  him.  He  has  been  treated  as 
having  wandered  in  the  flowery  fields  of  fancy  ;  and  attempts  have  been 
made  to  take  off  from  the  minds  of  the  committee  that  sober  impression 
which  might  be  expected  from  his  arguments.  I  trust,  sir,  that  observa- 
tions of  this  kind  are  not  thrown  out  to  cast  a  light  air  on  this  important 
subject,  or  to  give  any  personal  bias  on  the  great  question  before  us.  I 
will  not  agree  with  gentlemen  who  trifle  with  the  weaknesses  of  our 
country,  and  suppose  that  they  are  enumerated  to  answer  a  party  purpose, 
and  to  terrify  with  ideal  dangers.  No  ;  I  believe  these  weaknesses  to  be 
real,  and  pregnant  with  destruction.  Yet,  however  weak  our  country 
may  be,  I  hope  we  shall  never  sacrifice  our  liberties.  If,  therefore,  on  a 
full  and  candid  discussion,  the  proposed  system  shall  appear  to  have  that 
tendency,  for  God's  sake  let  us  reject  it.  But  let  us  not  mistake  words 
for  things,  nor  accept  doubtful  surmises  as  the  evidence  of  truth.  Let  us 
consider  the  Constitution  calmly  and  dispassionately,  and  attend  to  those 
things  only  which  merit  consideration 

Sir,  it  appears  to  me  extraordinary,  that  while  gentlemen  in  one 
breath  acknowledge  that  the  old  Confederation  requires  many  material 
amendments,  they  should  in  the  next  deny  that  its  defects  have  been 
the  cause  of  our  political  weakness,  and  the  consequent  calamities 
of  our  country.  I  cannot  but  infer  from  this,  that  there  is  still  some 
lurking,  favorite  imagination,  that  this  system,  with  corrections,  might 
become  a  safe  and  permanent  one.  It  is  proper  that  we  should  examine 
this  matter.  We  contend  that  the  radical  vice  in  the  old  Confederation  is, 
that  the  laws  of  the  Union  apply  only  to  States  in  their  corporate  capacity. 
Has  not  every  man  who  has  been  in  our  legislature  experienced  the  trulii 
of  this  position  ?  It  is  inseparable  from  the  disposition  of  bodies  who 
have  a  constitutional  power  of  resistance,  to  examine  the  merits  of  a  law. 
This  has  ever  been  the  case  with  the  federal  requisitions.  In  this  exami- 
nation, not  being  furnished  with  those  lights  which  directed  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  general  government,  and  incapable  of  embracing  the  general 
interests  of  the  Union,  the  States  have  almost  uniformly  weighed  the 
requisitions  by  their  own  local  interests,  and  have  only  executed  them  so 
far  as  answered  their  particular  convenience  or  advantage.     Hence  there 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  35 

have  ever  been  thirteen  different  bodies  to  judge  of  the  measures  of 
Congress — and  the  operations  of  government  have  been  distracted  by 
their  taking  different  courses.  Those  which  were  to  be  benefited  have 
complied  with  the  requisitions  ;  others  have  totally  disregarded  them. 
Have  not  all  of  us  been  witnesses  to  the  unhappy  embarrassments  which 
resulted  from  these  proceedings  ?  Even  during  the  late  war,  while  the 
pressure  of  common  danger  connected  strongly  the  bond  of  our  Union, 
and  incited  to  vigorous  exertions,  we  felt  many  distressing  effects  of  the 
impotent  system 

From  the  delinquency  of  those  States  who  have  suffered  little  by  the 
war,  we  naturally  conclude  that  they  have  made  no  efforts  ;  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature  will  teach  us  that  their  ease  and  security  have  been 
a  principal  cause  of  their  want  of  exertion.  While  danger  is  distant,  its 
impression  is  weak  ;  and  while  it  affects  only  our  neighbors,  we  have  few 
motives  to  provide  against  it.  Sir,  if  we  have  national  objects  to  pursue, 
we  must  have  national  revenues.  If  you  make  requisitions  and  they  are 
not  complied  with,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  It  has  been  well  observed,  that  to 
coerce  the  States  is  one  of  the  maddest  projects  that  was  ever  devised.  A 
failure  of  compliance  will  never  be  confined  to  a  single  State.  This  being 
the  case,  can  we  suppose  it  wise  to  hazard  a  civil  war  ?  Suppose  Massa- 
chusetts, or  any  large  State,  should  refuse,  and  Congress  should  attempt 
to  compel  them  ;  would  they  not  have  influence  to  procure  assistance, 
especially  from  those  States  who  are  in  the  same  situation  as  themselves  ^' 
What  picture  does  this  idea  present  to  our  view  ?  A  complying  State  at 
war  with  a  non-complying  State  :  Congress  marching  the  troops  of  one 
State  into  the  bosom  of  another :  this  State  collecting  auxiliaries  and 
Ibrming  perhaps  a  majority  against  its  federal  head.  Here  is  a  nation  at 
war  with  itself.  Can  any  reasonable  man  be  well  disposed  towards  a 
government  which  makes  war  and  carnage  the  -only  means  of  supporting 
itself — a  government  that  can  exist  only  by  the  sword  ?  Every  such  war 
must  involve  the  innocent  with  the  guilty.  This  single  consideration 
should  be  sufiicient  to  dispose  every  peaceable  citizen  against  such  a 
government. 

But  can  we  believe  that  one  State  will  ever  suffer  itself  to  be  used  as 
an  instrument  of  coercion  ?  The  thing  is  a  dream ;  it  is  impossible ;  then 
we  are  brought  to  this  dilemma  :  either  a  Federal  standing  army  is  to 
enforce  the  requisitions,  or  the  Federal  treasury  is  left  without  supplies, 
and  the  government  without  support.  What,  sir,  is  the  cure  for  this 
great  evil  ?  Nothing,  but  to  enable  the  national  laws  to  operate  on  indi- 
viduals in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  the  States  do.  This  is  the  true 
reasoning  of  the  subject,  sir.     The  gentlemen  appear  to  acknowledge  its 


36  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON 

force ;  and  yet,  while  they  yield  to  the  principle,  they  seem  to  fear  its 
application  to  the  Government. 

What  then  shall  we  do  ?  Shall  we  take  the  old  Confederation  as  the 
basis  of  a  new  system  ?  Can  this  be  the  object  of  the  gentlemen  ?  Certainly 
not.  Will  any  man  who  entertains  a  wish  for  the  safety  of  his  country, 
trust  the  sword  and  the  purse  with  a  single  assembly  organized  on  princi- 
ples so  defective,  so  rotten  ?  Though  we  might  give  to  such  a  govern- 
ment certain  powers  with  safety,  yet  to  give  them  the  full  and  unlimited 
powers  of  taxation,  and  the  national  forces,  would  be  to  establish  a  despot- 
ism; the  definition  of  which  is,  a  government  in  which  all  power  is 
concentrated  in  a  single  body.  To  take  the  old  Confederation,  and  fashion 
it  upon  these  principles,  would  be  establishing  a  power  which  would 
destroy  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

THE  STABILITY  OF  THE  UNION 
[The  following  extract  bears  upon  the  same  general  subject,  but  is  from  a  speech 
delivered  in  Februar}^,  1787,  before  the  Constitutional  Convention  met.  The  Con- 
gress of  the  Confederacy,  being  dependent  for  funds  upon  the  small  sums  doled  out 
to  it  by  the  seperate  States,  wished  to  lay  an  impost  or  general  tax  to  supply  it  with 
the  much  needed  funds.  This  the  States  opposed.  The  speech  from  which  we  quote 
was  delivered  before  the  Assembly  of  New  York.  It  depicts  strongly  the  weakness  and 
the  peril  of  the  feeble  Union  that  then  existed.] 

Is  there  not  a  species  of  political  knight-errantry  in  adhering  pertina- 
ciously to  a  system  which  throws  the  whole  weight  of  the  Confederation 
upon  this  State,  or  upon  one  or  t^yo  more  ?  Is  it  not  our  interest,  on 
mere  calculations  of  State  policy,  to  promote  a  measure,  which,  operating 
under  the  same  regulations  in  every  State,  must  produce  an  equal,  or  nearly 
equal,  effect  everywhere,  and  oblige  all  the  States  to  share  the  common 
burthen  ? 

If  the  impost  is  granfed  to  the  United  States,  with  the  power  of  levying 
it,  it  must  have  a  proportionate  eflfect  in  all  the  States,  for  the  same  mode 
of  collection  everywhere  will  have  nearly  the  same  return  everywhere. 

What  must  be  the  final  issue  of  the  present  state  of  things  ?  Will  the 
few  States  that  now  contribute,  be  willing  to  contribute  much  longer  ? 
Shall  we  ourselves  be  long  content  with  bearing  the  burthen  singly  ?  Will 
not  our  zeal  for  a  particular  system  soon  give  way  to  the  pressure  of  so 
unequal  a  weight  ?  And  if  all  the  States  cease  to  pay,  what  is  to  become 
of  the  Union?  It  is  sometimes  asked.  Why  do  not  Congress  oblige  the 
States  to  do  their  duty  ?  But  where  are  the  means  ?  Where  are  the  fleets 
and  armies  ;  where  the  Federal  treasury  to  support  those  fleets  and  armies, 
to  enforce  the  requisitions  of  the  Union  ?  All  methods  short  of  coercion 
have  repeatedly  been  tried  in  vain.  •   •    •    • 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  87 

Having  now  shown,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  there  is  no  constitntional. 
impediment  to  the  adoption  of  the  bill ;  that  there  is  no  danger  to  be 
apprehended  to  the  public  liberty  from  giving  the  power  in  question  to  the 
United  States  ;  that  in  the  view  of  revenue  the  measure  under  considera- 
tion is  not  only  expedient  but  necessary — let  us  turn  our  attention  to  the 
other  side  of  this  important  subject.  Let  us  ask  ourselves,  what  will  be 
the  consequence  of  rejecting  the  bill  ?  What  will  be  the  situation  of  our 
national  affairs  if  they  are  left  much  longer  to  float  in  the  chaos  in  which 
they  are  now  involved  ? 

Can  our  national  character  be  preserved  without  paying  our  debts  ? 
Can  the  Union  subsist  without  revenue  ?  Have  we  realized  the  conse- 
quences which  would  attend  its  dissolution  ? 

If  these  States  are  not  united  under  a  Federal  Government,  they  will 
infallibly  have  wars  with  each  other ;  and  their  divisions  will  subject  them 
to  all  the  mischiefs  of  foreign  influence  and  intrigue.  The  human  pas- 
sions will  never  want  objects  of  hostility.  The  Western  Territory  is  an 
obvious  and  fruitful  source  of  contest.  Let  us  also  cast  our  eye  upon  the 
map  of  this  State,  intersected  from  one  extremity  to  the  other  by  a  large 
navigable  river.  In  the  event  of  a  rupture  with  them ,  what  is  to  hinder  our 
metropolis  from  becoming  a  prey  to  our  neighbors  ?  Is  it  even  suppos- 
able  that  they  would  suffer  it  to  remain  the  nursery  of  wealth  to  a  distinct 
community  ? 

These  subjects  are  delicate,  but  it  is  necessary  to  contemplate  them, 
to  teach  us  to  form  a  true  estimate  of  our  situation.  Wars  with  each 
other  would  beget  standing  armies — a  source  of  more  real  danger  to  our 
liberties  than  all  the  powers  that  could  be  conferred  upon  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Union.  And  wars  with  each  other  would  lead  to  opposite 
alliances  with  foreign  powers,  and  plunge  us  into  all  the  labyrinths  of 
European  politics. 

The  Romans,  in  their  progress  to  universal  dominion,  when  they  con- 
ceived the  project  of  subduing  therefractory  spirit  of  the  Grecian  republics, 
which  composed  the  famous  Achaian  League,  began  by  sowing  dissen- 
sions among  them  and  instilling  jealousies  of  each  other,  and  of  the  com- 
mon head,  and  finished  by  making  them  a  province  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

The  application  is  easy  :  if  there  are  any  foreign  enemies,  if  there  are 
any  domestic  foes  to  this  country,  all  their  arts  and  artifices  will  be  em- 
ployed to  effect  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  This  cannot  be  better  done 
than  by  sowing  jealousies  of  the  Federal  head,  and  cultivating  in  each 
State  an  undue  attachment  to  its  own  power- 


JAMES  MADISON  (t  7514  836) 

THE  FATHER  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION 


OUR  national  title,  the  United  States  of  America,  has  been  in  use 
since  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  But  this  title  meant 
— ^  very  little  until  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1788. 
Before  that  date  the  Union  of  the  States  was  a  very  disjointed  affair. 
The  old  Confederacy  was  as  weak  as  a  string  of  beads  held  together  by  a 
spider's  web.  Congress  had  almost  no  power  and  the  Union  was 
simply  a  temporary  league  of  independent  States.  Washington  told 
the  exact  truth  when  he  said,  ''We  are  one  nation  to-day  and  thirteen 
to-morrow."  Congress  had  no  money  except  what  the  States  chose  to 
give  it;  if  it  needed  an  army  it  had  to  ask  the  States  for  soldiers;  it 
could  make  treaties,  but  could  net  enforce  them;  it  could  borrow 
money,  but  could  not  repay  it;  it  could  make  war,  but  could  not  enlist 
a  man  to  fight  its  battles. 

A  change  was  necessary  if  the  whole  affair  was  not  to  f\ill  to 
pieces.  There  must  be  a  stronger  union  or  soon  there  would  be  none 
at  all.  Hamilton  and  Madison  were  among  the  first  to  see  this,  and 
Madison  had  so  much  to  do  in  bringing  about  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, called  to  form  a  real  Union  of  the  States,  that  he  is  spoken 
of  as  ''The  Father  of  tlie  Constitution."  And  we  know  of  what  took 
place  in  that  Convention  mainly  by  the  notes  which  Madison  took 
while  it  went  on,  and  which  he  left  to  be  published  after  his  death. 

James  Madison  was  born  near  Port  Royal,  Virginia,  in  1751. 
He  grew  to  be  one  of  those  active  and  able  statesmen  of  whom  Vir- 
ginia gave  so  many  to  the  service  of  the  country  at  the  critical  period 
of  the  birth  of  the  new  nation.  Feeble  health  prevented  him  from 
fighting  for  his  country,  but  he  was  active  in  legislative  service  and 
afterwards  was  one  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  Convention  that 
3S 


JAMES  MADISON  39 

framed  the  Constitution,  which  he  aided  Hamilton  in  supporting  in 
that  splendid  series  of  essays  published  under  the  title  of  '^  The 
Federalist."  After  serving  in  Congress  and  in  the  Virginia  Legislature, 
Madison  became  Secretary  of  State  under  Jefferson,  and  in  1809  took 
his  seat  as  President.  He  continued  in  this  high  office  for  eight  years, 
of  which  three  were  years  of  war.  The  remainder  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  rest  and  quiet. 

Madison  was  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  the  early  American 
statesmen,  an  able  thinker,  a  skillful  writer,  and  a  brilliant  orator. 
He  took  an  active  part  in  the  debates  on  the  Constitution,  and  after- 
wards in  the  Virginia  Convention  called  to  ratify  it.  Here  he  had  to 
contend  against  the  vehement  oratory  of  Patrick  Henry  and  the  per- 
suasive eloquence  of  George  Mason ;  yet  he  gained  his  cause,  the 
Constitution  was  adopted,  and  Virginia  entered  the  Union. 

THE  AMERICAN  FEDERAL  UNION 

[While  Hamilton  in  New  York  was  delivering  that  brilliant  series  of  speeches 
on  the  Constitution  from  which  we  have  given  an  extract,  and  which  carried  New 
York  for  the  Union,  his  colleague,  Madison,  was  engaged  in  the  same  good  work  in 
Virginia.  Hamilton  had  the  able  party  leader  George  Clinton,  to  contend  against, 
and  Madison  had  the  brilliant  orator  Patrick  Henry,  yet  they  both  carried  their  point. 
They  had  much  the  stronger  side  of  the  argument,  and  were  able  to  show  the  people 
that  there  was  no  middle  course  between  the  Constitution  and  anarchy.  To  reject  it 
would  have  been  the  death  of  the  Union  and  the  ruin  of  the  States.  This  is  what 
Madison  sought  to  demonstrate  in  his  series  of  speeches  given  in  June,  1788.  We 
offer  from  these  an  illustrative  extract  describing  the  character  of  the  proposed  new 
government.] 

Give  me  leave  to  say  something  of  the  nature  of  the  government, 
and  to  show  that  it  is  perfectly  vSafe  and  just  to  vest  it  with  the  power  of 
taxation.  There  are  a  number  of  opinions  ;  but  the  principal  question 
is,  whether  it  be  a  federal  or  a  consolidated  government.  In  order  to 
judge  properly  of  the  question  before  us,  we  must  consider  it  minutely,  in 
its  principal  parts.  I  myself  conceive  that  it  is  of  a  mixed  nature  ;  it  is, 
in  a  manner,  unprecedented.  We  cannot  find  one  express  prototype  in 
the  experience  of  the  world  ;  it  stands  by  itself.  In  some  respects  it  is  a 
\  government  of  a  federal  nature  ;  in  others,  it  is  of  a  consolidated  nature. 
Even  if  we  attend  to  the  manner  in  which  the  Constitution  is  investigated, 
ratified  and  made  the  act  of  the  people  of  America,  I  can  say,  notwith- 
standing what  the  honorable  gentleman  [Patrick  Henry]  has  alleged,  that 
this  government  is  not  completely  consolidated  ;  nor  is  it  entirely  federal. 
Who  are  the  parties   to  it  ?     The  people ;  not  the  people  as  composing 


40  JAMES  MADISON 

one  great  body,  but  the  people  as  composing  thirteen  sovereignties. 
Were  it,  as  the  gentleman  asserts,  a  consolidated  government,  the  assent 
of  a  majority  of  the  people  would  be  sufficient  for  its  establishment,  and 
as  a  majority  have  adoped  it  already,  the  remaining  States  would  be 
bound  by  the  act  of  the  majority,  even  if  they  unanimously  reprobated  it. 
Were  it  such  a  government  as  is  suggested,  it  would  be  now  binding  on 
the  people  of  this  State,  without  having  had  the  privilege  of  deliberating 
upon  it ;  but,  sir,  no  State  is  bound  by  it,  as  it  is,  without  its  own  con- 
sent. Should  all  the  States  adopt  it,  it  will  be  then  a  government  estab- 
lished by  the  thirteen  States  of  America,  not  through  the  intervention  of 

the  legislatures,  but  by  the  people  at  large 

But  it  is  urged  that  .its  consolidated  nature,  joined  to  the  power  of 
direct  taxation,  will  give  it  a  tendency  to  destroy  all  subordinate  authority; 
that  its  increasing  influence  will  speedily  enable  it  to  absorb  the  State 
governments.  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  think  that  this  will  be  the  case. 
If  the  general  government  were  wholly  independent  of  the  governments 
of  the  particular  States,  then,  indeed,  usurpation  might  be  expected  to  the 
fullest  extent ;  but,  sir,  on  whom  does  this  general  government  depend  ? 
It  derives  its  authority  from  these  governments,  and  from  the  same  sources 
from  which  their  authority  is  derived.  The  members  of  the  federal 
government  are  taken  from  the  same  men  from  whom  those  of  the  State 
legislatures  are  taken.  If  we  consider  the  mode  in  which  the  federal 
representatives  will  be  chosen,  we  shall  be  convinced  that  the  general 
never  will  destroy  the  individual  governments  ;  and  this  conviction  must 
be  strengthened  by  an  attention  to  the  construction  of  the  Senate.  The 
representatives  will  be  chosen,  probably  under  the  influence  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  State  legislatures  ;  but  there  is  not  the  least  probability  that 
the  election  of  the  latter  will  be  influenced  by  the  former.  One  hundred 
jand  sixty  members  representing  this  commonwealth  in  one  branch  of  the 
legislature,  are  drawn  from  the  people  at  large,  and  must  ever  possess 
more  influence  than  the  few  men  who  will  be  elected  to  the  general  legis- 
lature. Those  who  wish  to  become  federal  representatives  must  depend 
on  their  credit  with  that  class  of  men  who  will  be  the  most  popular  in 
their  counties,  who  generally  represent  the  people  in  the  State  govern- 
ments ;  they  can,  therefore,  never  succeed  in  any  measure  contrary  to  the 
wishes  of  those  on  whom  they  depend.  So  that,  on  the  whole,  it  is  almost 
certain  that  the  deliberations  of  the  members  of  the  Federal  House  of  Repre- 
sentives  will  be  directed  to  the  interests  of  the  people  of  America.  As  to 
the  other  branch,  the  senators  will  be  appointed  by  the  legislatures,  and, 
though  elected  for  six  years,  I  do  not  conceive  they  will  so  soon  forget 
the  source  from   whence   they   derive   their  political   existence-      This 


I 


JAMES  MADISON  41 

election  of  one  branch  of  the  Federal  by  the  State  legislatures,  secures  an 
absolute  dependence  of  the  former  on  the  latter.  The  biennial  exclusion 
of  one-third  will  lessen  the  facility  of  a  combination,  and  preclude  all 
likelihood  of  intrigues.  I  appeal  to  our  past  experience,  whether  they 
will  attend  to  the  interests  of  their  constituent  States.  Have  not  those 
gentlemen  who  have  been  honored  with  seats  in  Congress  often  signalized 
themselves  by  their  attachment  to  their  States  ?  Sir,  I  pledge  myself  that 
this  government  will  answer  the  expectations  of  its  friends,  and  foil  the 
apprehensions  of  its  enemies.  I  am  persuaded  that  the  patriotism  of  the 
people  will  continue,  and  be  a  sufficient  guard  to  their  liberties,  and  that 
the  tendency  of  the  constitution  will  be,  that  the  State  governments  will 
counteract  the  general  interest,  and  ultimately  prevail 

If  we  recur  to  history,  and  review  the  annals  of  mankind,  I  undertake 
to  say  that  no  instance  can  be  produced  by  the  most  learned  man,  of  any 
confederate  government  that  will  justify  a  continuation  of  the  present 
system  ;  or  that  will  not,  on  the  contrary,  demonstrate  the  necessity  of 
this  change,  and  of  substituting  to  the  present  pernicious  and  fatal  plan 
the  system  now  under  consideration,  or  one  equally  energetic.  The 
uniform  conclusion  drawn  from  a  review  of  ancient  and  modern  confeder- 
acies is,  that  instead  of  promoting  the  public  happiness,  or  securing 
public  tranquillity,  they  have,  in  every  instance,  been  productive  of 
anarchy  and  confusion — ineffectual  for  the  preservation  of  harmony  and 
a  prey  to  their  own  dissensions  and  foreign  invasions. 

The  Amphictyonic  league  *  resembled  our  confederation  in  its  nominal 
powers  ;  it  was  possessed  of  rather  more  efficiency.  The  component 
States  retained  their  sovereignty,  and  enjoyed  an  equality  of  suffrage  in 
the  federal  council.  But  though  its  powers  were  more  considerable  in 
many  respects  than  those  of  our  present  system,  yet  it  had  the  same 
radical  defect.  Its  powers  were  exercised  over  its  individual  members  in 
their  political  capacities.  To  this  capital  defect  it  owed  its  disorders  and 
final  destruction.  It  was  compelled  to  recur  to  the  sanguinary  coercion 
of  war  to  enforce  its  decrees.  The  struggles  consequent  on  a  refusal  to 
obey  a  decree,  and  an  attempt  to  enforce  it,  produced  the  necessity  of 
applying  to  foreign  assistance  ;  by  complying  with  that  application  and 
employing  his  wiles  and  intrigues,  Philip  of  Macedon  acquired  sufficient 
influence  to  become  a  member  of  the  league ;  and  that  artful  and  insidious 
prince  soon  after  became  master  of  their  liberties. 

The  Achaean  league  t,  though  better  constructed  than  the  Amphicty- 
onic in  material  respects,  was  continually  agitated  with  domestic  dissen- 
sions, and  driven  to  the  necessity  of  calling  in  foreign  aid  ;  this  also 

*  An  early  form  of  Grecian  confederacy.  f  A  league  formed  in  l^ter  Grecian  days. 


42  JAMES  MADISON 

eventuated  in  the  demolition  of  their  confederacy.  Had  they  been  more 
closely  united,  their  people  would  have  been  happier  ;  and  their  united 
wisdom  and  strength  would  not  only  have  rendered  unnecessary  all  foreign 
interpositions  in  their  affairs,  but  would  have  enabled  them  to  repel  the 
attack  of  any  enemy.  If  we  descend  to  more  modern  examples,  we  shall 
find  the  same  evils  resulting  from  the  same  sources. 

The  Germanic  system  ^  is  neither  adequate  to  the  external  defence  or 
internal  felicity  of  the  people ;  the  doctrine  of  quotas  and  requisitions 
flourishes  here.  Without  energy,  without  stability,  the  empire  is  a  nerve- 
less body.  The  most  furious  conflicts,  and  the  most  implacable  animosi- 
ties between  its  members,  strikingly  distinguish  its  history.  Concert  and  co- 
operation are  incompatible  with  such  an  injudiciously  constructed  system. 

The  Republic  of  the  Swiss  is  sometimes  instanced  for  its  stability; 
but  even  there  dissensions  and  wars  of  a  bloody  nature  have  been  fre- 
quently seen  between  the  cantons.  A  peculiar  coincidence  of  circum- 
stances contributes  to  the  continuance  of  their  political  connection.  Their 
feeble  association  owes  its  existence  to  their  singular  situation.  There  is 
a  schism  in  their  confederacy,  which,  without  the  necessity  of  uniting  for 
their  external  defence,  would  immediately  produce  its  dissolution.  The 
confederate  government  of  Holland  is  a  further  confirmation  of  the  char- 
acteristic imbecility  of  such  governments.  From  the  history  of  this  govern- 
ment, we  might  derive  lessons  of  the  most  important  utility 

These  radical  defects  in  their  confederacy  must  have  dissolved  their 
association  long  ago,  were  it  not  for  their  peculiar  position — circumscribed 
in  a  narrow  territory ;  surrounded  by  the  most  powerful  nations  in  the 
world ;  possessing  peculiar  advantages  from  their  situation  ;  an  extensive 
navigation  and  a  powerful  navy — advantages  which  it  was  clearly  the  in- 
terest of  those  nations  to  diminish  or  deprive  them  of.  The  late  unhappy 
dissensions  were  manifestly  produced  by  the  vices  of  their  system.  We 
may  derive  much  benefit  from  the  experience  of  that  unhappy  country. 
Governments,  destitute  of  energy,  will  always  produce  anarchy.  These 
facts  are  worthy  the  most  serious  consideration  of  every  gentleman  here. 
Does  not  the  history  of  these  confederacies  coincide  with  the  lessons  drawn 
from  our  own  experience  ?  I  most  earnestly  pray  that  America  may  have 
sufficient  wisdom  to  avail  herself  of  the  instructive  information  she  may 
derive  from  a  contemplation  of  the  sources  of  their  misfortunes,  and  that 
she  may  escape  a  similar  fate,  by  avoiding  the  causes  from  which  their 
infelicity  sprung. 

*  The  league,  then  existing,  of  independent  German  States 


p 


FISHER  AMES  (J 7584 808) 

RHETORICIAN  AND  ORATOR 


BISHER  AMES,  not  the  least  among  the  distinguished  orators  of. 
the  era  of  the  Constitution,  was,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Charles  Cald- 
well, "Decidedly  one  of  the  most  splendid  rhetoricians  of  the  age. 
Two  of  his  speeches,  that  on  Jay's  treaty  and  that  usually  called  his 
'Tomahawk'  speech  (because  it  included  some  resplendent  speeches  on 
Indian  massacres)  are  the  most  brilliant  and  fascinating  specimens  of 
eloquence  I  have  ever  heard,  yet  I  have  listened  to  some  of  the  most 
celebrated  speakers  in  the  British  Parliament."  Dr.  Priestly  also  said 
that  "  The  speech  of  Ames,  on  the  British  Treafy,  was  the  most 
bewitching  piece  of  parliamentary  oratory  I  have  ever  listened  to." 

The  orator  thus  highly  eulogized  was  of  Massachusetts  birth  and 
training,  Harvard  College  being  his  alma  mater.  He  became  widely 
familiar  with  the  best  literature,  studied  law,  and  wrote  ably  on  the 
political  problem  of  1784  and  later,  in  papers  signed  Brutus  and 
Camillm.  These  gave  him  wide  renown,  and  won  him  election  to  the 
first  Congress  in  1789.  He  continued  a  member  of  the  House  until 
1797,  when  failing  health  obliged  him  to  withdraw  from  political 
labors.  In  1804  he  was  chosen  President  of  Harvard  College,  but 
declined  on  the  plea  of  wasting  strength.  Four  years  afterward,  in 
1808,  he  died,  shortly  after  the  completion  of  his  fiftieth  year. 

THE  OBLIGATION  OF  TREATIES 

[The  treaty  with  Great  Britain  in  1783,  which  was  the  final  event  in  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  was,  unfortunately,  not  fully  carried  out  in  the  States.  Trouble 
arose  about  the  harsh  treatment  of  the  Tories,  who  were  forced  by  thousands  to  leave 
the  country.  Also  the  old  debts  due  British  merchants  were  not  paid.  England 
looked  on  this  as  bad  faith,  and  refused  to  give  up  Detroit  and  other  posts  on  the  lakes. 
And  as  a  result  of  its  war  with  France,  it  began  to  seize  American  ships  trading  with 
that  country,  and  to  take  seamen  from  American  vessels  on  the  pretense  that  they  were 

43 


44  FISHER  AMES 

British  subjects.  An  effort  to  adjust  these  difficulties  led  in  1795  to  a  new  treaty, 
negotiated  by  John  Jay,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
This  treaty  settled  all  the  questions  in  dispute  except  that  of  the  seizure  of  American 
sailors.  But  some  of  its  features,  this  one  in  particular  gave  rise  to  intense  excite- 
ment and  determined  opposition.  Jay  was  burned  in  effigy,  the  British  minister  was 
insulted,  and  Hamilton,  who  spoke  in  favor  of  the  treaty,  was  stoned.  But  Washing- 
ton also  favored  it  and  it  was  carried  through  Congress  against  all  opposition.  With 
all  its  defects,  no  better  could  be  had  at  the  time,  and  it  averted  a  possible  war.  Ames 
spoke  earnestly  in  favor  of  the  appropriation  for  the  treaty,  his  address  being  full  of 
such  pathos  and  eloquence,  that  at  its  close  one  member  moved  to  adjourn,  on  the 
ground  that  the  House  was  in  too  great  a  state  of  excitement  to  consider  the  question 
impartially.     We  quote  some  telling  passages  from  this  celebrated  speech.] 

The  treaty  is  bad,  fatally  bad,  is  the  cry.  It  sacrifices  the  interest, 
the  honor,  the  independence  of  the  United  States,  and  the  faith  of  our 
engagements  to  France.  If  we  listen  to  the  clamor  of  party  intemperance, 
the  evils  are  of  a  number  not  to  be  counted,  and  of  a  nature  not  to  be 
borne,  even  in  idea.  The  language  of  passion  and  exaggeration  may 
silence  that  of  sober  reason  in  other  places,  it  has  not  done  it  here.  The 
question  here  is,  whether  the  treaty  be  really  so  very  fatal  as  to  oblige  the 
nation  to  break  its  faith.  I  admit  that  such  a  treaty  ought  not  to  be  exe- 
cuted. I  admit  that  self-preservation  is  the  first  law  of  society,  as  well  as 
of  individuals.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  deemed  an  abuse  of  terms  to  call 
that  a  treaty  which  violates  such  a  principle 

The  undecided  point  is,  shall  we  break  our  faith?  And  while  our 
country  and  enlightened  Europe  await  the  issue  with  more  than  curiosity, 
we  are  employed  to  gather  piecemeal,  and  article  by  article,  from  the 
instrument  a  justification  for  the  deed  by  trivial  calculations  of  commer- 
cial profit  and  loss.  This  is  little  worthy  of  the  subject,  of  this  body  or  of 
the  nation.  If  the  treaty  is  bad,  it  will  appear  to  be  so  in  its  mass.  Evil  to 
a  fatal  extreme,  if  that  be  its  tendency,  requires  no  proof;  it  brings  it. 
Extremes  speak  for  themselves  and  make  their  own  law.  What  if  the 
direct  voyage  of  American  ships  to  Jamaica  with  horses  or  lumber  might 
net  one  or  i^o  per  ceyitum  more  than  the  present  trade  to  Surinam  ;  would 
the  proof  of  the  fact  avail  anything  in  so  grave  a  question  as  the  violation 
pf  the  public  engagements  ? 

It  is  in  vain  to  allege  that  our  faith,  plighted  to  France,  is  violated  by 
this  new  treaty.  Our  prior  treaties  are  expressly  saved  from  the  opera- 
tion of  the  British  treaty.  And  what  do  those  mean  who  say,  that  our 
honor  was  forfeited  by  treating  at  all,  and  especially  by  such  a  treaty? 
Justice,  the  laws  and  practice  of  nations,  a  just  regard  for  peace  as  a 
duty  to  mankind,  and  the  known  wish  of  our  citizens,  as  well  as  that  self- 
respect  which  required  it  of  the  nation  to  act  with  dignity  and  moderation. 


FISHER  AMES  45 

all  these  forbade  an  appeal  to  arms  before  we  had  tried  the  effect  of 
negotiation.  The  honor  of  the  United  States  was  saved,  not  forfeited,  by- 
treating.  The  treaty  itself,  by  its  stipulations  for  the  posts,  for  indemnity, 
and  for  a  due  observation  of  our  neutral  rights,  has  justly  raised  the  char- 
acter of  the  nation.  Never  did  the  name  of  America  appear  in  Europe 
with  more  lustre  than  upon  the  event  of  ratifying  this  instrument 

What  is  patriotism  ?  Is  it  a  narrow  affection  for  the  spot  where  a 
man  was  born  ?  Are  the  very  clods  where  we  tread  entitled  to  this 
ardent  preference  because  they  are  greener  ?  No,  sir,  this  is  not  the  char- 
acter of  the  virtue,  and  it  soars  higher  for  its  object.  It  is  an  extended 
self-love,  mingling  with  all  the  enjoyments  of  life,  and  twisting  itself  with 
the  minutest  filaments  of  the  heart.  It  is  thus  we  obey  the  laws  of 
society,  because  they  are  the  laws  of  virtue.  In  their  authority  we  see, 
not  the  array  of  force  and  terror,  but  the  venerable  image  of  our  country's 
honor.  Every  good  citizen  makes  that  honor  his  own,  and  cherishes  it 
not  only  as  precious,  but  as  sacred.  He  is  willing  to  risk  his  life  in  its 
defence,  and  is  conscious  that  he  gains  protection  while  he  gives  it.  For 
what  rights  of  a  citizen  will  be  deemed  inviolable  when  a  State  renounces 
the  principles  that  constitute  their  security  ?  Or  if  his  life  should  not  be 
invaded,  what  would  its  enjoyments  be  in  a  country  odious  in  the  eyes  of 
strangers  and  dishonored  in  his  own  ?  Could  he  look  with  affection  and 
veneration  to  such  a  country  as  his  parent  ?  The  sense  of  having  one 
would  die  with  him  ;  he  would  blush  for  his  patriotism,  if  he  retained 
any,  and  justly,  for  it  would  be  a  vice.  He  would  be  a  banished  man  in 
his  native  land. 

I  see  no  exception  to  the  respect  that  is  paid  among  nations  to  the 
law  of  good  faith.  If  there  are  cases  in  this  enlightened  period  when  it  is 
violated,  there  are  none  when  it  is  decried.  It  is  the  philosophy  of 
politics,  the  religion  of  governments.  It  is  observed  by  barbarians — a 
whiff  of  tobacco  smoke,  or  a  string  of  beads,  gives  not  merely  binding 
force,  but  sanctity  to  treaties.  Even  in  Algiers  a  truce  may  be  bought 
for  money;  but  when  ratified,  even  Algiers  is  too  wise,  or  too  just,  to 
disown  and  -annul  its  obligation.  Thus  we  see  neither  the  ignorance  of 
savages,  nor  the  principles  of  an  association  for  piracy  and  rapine,  permit 
a  nation  to  despise  its  engagements.  If,  sir,  there  could  be  a  resurrection 
.from  the  foot  of  the  gallows  ;  if  the  victims  of  justice  could  live  again, 
collect  together  and  form  a  society,  they  would,  however  loath,  soon  find 
themselves  obliged  to  make  justice,  that  justice  under  which  they  fell,  the 
fundamental  law  of  their  state.  They  would  perceive  it  was  their  interest 
to  make  others  respect,  and  they  would,  therefore,  soon  pay  some  respect 
themselves  to  the  obligations  of  good  faith. 


46  FISHER  AMES 

It  is  painful,  I.  hope  it  is  superfluous,  to  make  even  the  supposition 
that  America  should  furnish  the  occasion  of  this  opprobrium.  No,  let 
me  not  even  imagine  that  a  republican  government,  sprung,  as  our  own 
is,  from  a  people  enlightened  and  uncorrupted,  a  government  whose 
origin  is  right,  and  whose  daily  discipline  is  duty,  can,  upon  solemn 
debate,  make  its  option  to  be  faithless — can  dare  to  act  what  despots  dare 
not  avow 

Let  us^not  hesitate,  then,  to  agree  to  the  appropriation  to  carry  it  into 
faithful  execution.  Thus  we  shall  save  the  faith  of  our  nation,  secure 
its  peace,  and  diffuse  the  spirit  of  confidence  and  enterprise  that  will  aug- 
ment its  prosperity.  The  progress  of  wealth  and  improvement  is  wonder- 
ful, and,  some  will  think,  too  rapid.  The  field  for  exertion  is  fruitful  and 
vast,  and,  if  peace  and  good  government  should  be  preserved,  the  acquisi- 
tions of  our  citizens  are  not  so  pleasing  as  the  proofs  of  their  industry  as 
the  instruments  of  their  future  success.  The  rewards  of  exertion  go  to 
augment  its  power.  Profit  is  every  hour  becoming  capital.  The  vast 
crop  of  our  neutrality  is  all  seedwheat,  and  is  sown  again  to  swell,  almost 
beyond  calculation,  the  future  harvest  of  prosperity .  And  in  this  progress, 
what  seems  to  be  fiction  is  found  to  fall  short  of  experience. 

I  rose  to  speak  under  impressions  that  I  w^ould  have  resisted  if  I  could. 
Those  who  see  me  will  believe  that  the  reduced  state  of  my  health  has 
unfitted  me,  almost  equally,  for  much  exertion  of  body  or  mind.  Unpre- 
pared for  debate,  by  careful  reflection  in  my  retirement,  or  by  long  atten- 
tion here,  I  thought  the  resolution  I  had  taken  to  sit  silent  was  imposed 
by  necessity,  and  would  cost  me  no  effort  to  maintain.  With  a  mind  thus 
vacant  of  ideas,  and  sinking,  as  I  really  am,  under  a  sense  of  weakness,  I 
imagined  the  very  desire  of  speaking  was  extinguished  by  the  persuasion 
that  I  had  nothing  to  say.  Yet  when  I  come  to  the  moment  of  deciding 
the  vote,  I  start  back  with  dread  from  the  edge  of  the  pit  into  which  we 
are  plunging.  In  my  view,  even  the  minutes  I  have  spent  in  expostula- 
tion have  their  value,  because  they  protract  the  crisis,  and  the  short  period 
in  which  alone  we  may  resolve  to  escape  it. 

I  have  thus  been  led  by  my  feelings  to  speak  more  at  length  than 
I  had  intended.  Yet  I  have,  perhaps,  as  little  personal  interest  in  the 
event  as  any  one  here.  There  is,  I  believe,  no  member  who  will  not  think 
his  chance  to  be  a  witness  of  the  consequences  greater  than  mine.  If, 
however,  the  vote  should  pass  to  reject,  and  a  spirit  should  rise,  as  it  will, 
with  public  disorders,  to  make  confusion  worse  confounded,  even  I,  slen- 
der and  almost  broken  as  my  hold  upon  life  is,  may  outlive  the  Govern- 
ment and  Constitution  of  my  country. 


HENRY  LEE  (1 75648 J 8) 

LIGHT  HORSE  HARRY 


mHE  name  of  Lee  is  of  high  distinction  in  American  history,  and 
especially  in  the  military  annals  of  the  United  States.  This  ap- 
plies almost  wholly  to  a  single  family,  of  which  Robert  Eward 
Lee,  the  Confederate  hero  of  the  Civil  War,  is  the  most  famous  member. 
Two  of  his  sons  and  one  nephew  became  Generals  in  the  Civil  War,  the 
latter,  Fitzhugh  Lee,  becoming  prominent  both  as  asoldier  and  statesman. 
But  we  are  here  concerned  with  the  first  famous  representative  of  the 
family,  Henry  Lee,  the  father  of  Robert  Edward,  and  the  "  Light  Horse 
Harry"  of  the  Revolution,  in  which  conflict  he  was  the  most  dashing 
of  cavalry  commanders.  We  have  in  the  record  of  this  family  a  cir- 
cumstance without  parallel  in  our  history,  in  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
famous  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  left  a  son  who  became  one  of  the 
two  great  commanders  in  the  Civil  War,  eighty  years  afterward. 

General  Lee,  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  made  a  captain  of  cavalry 
early  in  the  war  for  independence.  His  exploits  were  numerous  and 
brilliant,  especially  in  1780  and  1781,  when  he  commanded  a  cavalry 
corps  under  General  Greene  in  the  Carolinas.  Of  his  later  career  it 
must  suffice  to  say  that  he  was  Governor  of  Virginia  in  1794,  and 
that  he  served  several  terms  in  Congress,  where  the  soldier  showed 
that  he  had  gifts  of  oratory  also.  In  the  latter  field  he  was  selected 
by  Congress  to  pronounce  the  funeral  oration  upon  Washington,  whom 
he  designated  by  the  famous  aphorism,  "First  in  war,  first  in  peace, 
and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  country-men." 

THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY 

[George  Washington  ended  his  life  on  the  14th  of  December,  1799,  almost  at 
the  close  of  a  century  in  which  he  had  few  rivals  in  military  ability,  and  none  in  wise 
and  self-sacrificing  patriotism  and  unselfish  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  his  country. 

47 


48  HENRY  LEE 

There  are  many,  alike  in  America  and  Europe,  who  regard  Washington  as  pre* 
eminently  the  greatest  man  of  that  century.  Such  was  the  sentiment  of  the  people 
who,  on  learning  of  his  death,  mourned  him  as  if  they  had  lost  not  only  the  "Father 
of  his  country,"  but  the  immediate  father  of  each  of  them  as  well.  One  of  his 
warmest  friends  and  ablest  companions  in  arms,  Henry  I,ee,  was  chosen  by  Congress 
to  voice  its  sense  of  the  country's  loss.  We  give  below  Lee's  eloquent  tribute  to  his 
great  commander's  memory,  spoken  at  the  German  Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia, 
on  the  26th  of  December,  1799.] 

In  obedience  to  your  will  I  rise  your  humble  organ,  with  the  hope  of 
executing  a  part  of  the  system  of  public  mourning  which  you  have  been 
pleased  to  adopt,  commemorative  of  the  death  of  the  most  illustrious  and 
most  beloved  personage  this  country  has  ever  produced  ;  and  which,  while 
it  transmits  to  posterity  your  sense  of  the  awful  event,  faintly  represents 
your  knowledge  of  the  consummate  excellence  you  so  cordially  honor. 

Desperate,  indeed,  is  any  attempt  on  earth  to  meet  correspondently 
this  dispensation  of  Heaven  ;  for,  while  with  pious  resignation  we  submit 
to  the  will  of  an  all-gracious  Providence,  we  can  never  cease  lamenting, 
in  our  finite  view  of  Omnipotent  wisdom,  the  heartrending  privation  for 
which  our  nation  weeps.  When  the  civilized  world  shakes  to  its  centre  ; 
when  every  moment  gives  birth  to  strange  and  momentous  changes  ;  when 
our  peaceful  quarter  of  the  globe,  exempt  as  it  happily  has  been  from  any 
share  in  the  slaughter  of  the  human  race,  may  yet  be  compelled  to  abandon 
her  pacific,*  policy,  and  to  risk  the  doleful  casualties  of  war ;  what  limit 
is  there  to  the  extent  of  our  loss  ?  None  within  the  reach  of  my  words  to 
express  ;  none  which  your  feelings  will  not  disavow. 

The  founder  of  our  federate  republic — our  bulwark  in  war,  our  guide 
in  peace — is  no  more  !  O  that  this  were  but  questionable  !  Hope,  the  com- 
forter of  the  wretched,  would  pour  into  our  agonizing  hearts  its  balmy 
dew.  But,  alas  !  there  is  no  hope  for  us  ;  our  Washington  is  removed  for 
ever !  Possessing  the  stoutest  frame  and  purest  mind,  he  had  passed 
nearly  to  his  sixty-eighth  year,  in  the  enjoyment  of  high  health,  when, 
habituated  by  his  care  of  us  to  neglect  himself,  a  slight  cold,  disregarded, 
became  inconvenient  on  Friday,  oppressive  on  Saturday,  and,  defying 
every  medical  interposition,  before  the  morning  of  Sunday  put  an  end  to 
the  best  of  men.  An  end  did  I  say  ? — his  fame  survives  !  bounded  only 
by  the  limits  of  the  earth,  and  by  the  extent  of  the  human  mind.  He  sur- 
vives in  our  hearts,  in  the  growing  knowledge  of  our  children,  in  the 
affection  of  the  good  throughout  the  world  :  and  when  our  monuments 
shall  be  done  away  ;  when  nations  now  existing  shall  be  no  more ;  when 
even  our  young  and  far-spreading  empire  shall  have  perished,  still  will  our 

*  The  speaker  here  refers  to  the  disturbed  condition  of  Europe  at  that  peFiod,  and  especially  to 
the  imminent  peril  of  war  with  France,  due  to  French  interference  with  American  commerce. 


^£  ^> 

HENRY  LEEVC4,  ,  '^'■'  49 

Washington's  glory  unfaded  shine,  and  die  not,  until  love  of  virtue  cease 
on  earth,  or  earth  itself  sinks  into  chaos. 

How,  my  fellow  citizens,  shall  I  single  to  your  grateful  hearts  his 
pre-eminent  worth  ?  Where  shall  I  begin  in  opening  to  your  view  a  char- 
acter throughout  sublime  ?  Shall  I  speak  of  his  warlike  achievements,  all 
springing  from  obedience  to  his  country 'swill — all  directed  to  his  country's 
good?  Will  you  go  with  me  to  the  banks  of  the  Monongahela,  to  see  your 
youthful  Washington,  supporting,  in  the  dismal  hour  of  Indian  victory, 
the  ill-fated  Braddock,  and  saving,  by  his  judgment  and  by  his  valor, 
the  remains  of  a  defeated  army,  pressed  by  the  conquering  savage  foe ;  or, 
when  oppressed  America,  nobly  resolving  to  risk  her  all  in  defence  of  her 
violated  rights,  he  was  elevated  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  Congress  to 
the  command  of  her  armies  ?  Will  you  follow  him  to  the  high  grounds  of 
Boston,  where,  to  an  undisciplined,  courageous,  and  virtuous  yeomanry, 
his  presence  gave  the  stability  of  system,  and  infused  the  invincibility  of 
love  of  country  ;  or  shall  I  carry  you  to  the  painful  scenes  of  L<ong  Island, 
York  Island  and  New  Jersey,  when,  combating  superior  and  gallant  armies, 
aided  by  powerful  fleets,  and  led  by  chiefs  high  in  the  roll  of  fame,  he 
stood,  the  bulwark  of  our  safety,  undismayed  by  disaster,  unchanged  by 
change  of  fortune  ?  Or  will  you  view  him  in  the  precarious  fields  of 
Trenton,  where  deep  gloom,  unnerving  every  arm,  reigned  triumphant 
through  our  thinned,  worn  down,  unaided  ranks;  himself  unmoved? 
Dreadful  was  the  night.  It  was  about  this  time  of  winter,  the  storm 
raged,  the  Delaware  rolling  furiously  with  floating  ice,  forbade  the  approach 
of  man.  Washington,  self-collected,  viewed  the  tremendous  scene;  his 
country  called  ;  unappalled  by  surrounding  dangers,  he  passed  to  the  hos- 
tile shore ;  he  fought ;  he  conquered .  The  morning  sun  cheered  the  Ameri- 
can world.  Our  country  rose  on  the  event ;  and  her  dauntless  chief,  pur- 
suing his  blow,  completed,  in  the  lawns  of  Princeton,  what  his  vast  soul 
had  conceived  on  the  shores  of  the  Delaware. 

[The  orator  recites,  in  similar  eulogistic  words,  his  hero's  remaining  services  in 
the  war  and  continues  as  follows  :] 

Were  I  to  stop  here,  the  picture  would  be  incomplete,  and  the  task 
imposed  unfinished.  Great  as  was  our  Washington  in  war,  and  as  much 
as  did  that  greatness  contribute  to  produce  the  American  Republic,  it  is 
not  in  war  alone  his  pre-eminence  stands  conspicuous.  His  various 
talents,  combining  all  the  capacities  of  a  statesmen  with  those  of  a 
soldier,  fitted  him  alike  to  guide  the  councils  and  the  armies  of  our  nation. 
Scarcely  had  he  rested  from  his  martial  toils,  while  his  invaluable  parental 
advice  was  still  sounding  in  our  ears,  when  he,  who  had  been  our  shield, 
our  sword,  was  called  forth  to  act  a  less  splendid,  but  more  important  part. 
4 


50  HENRY  LEE 

Possessing  a  clear  and  penetrating  mind,  a  strong  and  sound  judgf- 
ment,  calmness  and  temper  for  deliberation,  with  invincible  firmness  and 
perseverance  in  resolutions  maturely  formed  ;  drawing  information  from 
all ;  acting  from  himself,  with  incorruptible  integrity  and  unvarying 
patriotism  ;  his  own  superiority  and  the  public  confidence  alike  marked 
him  as  the  man  designed  by  Heaven  to  lead  in  the  great  political  as  well 
as  military  events  which  have  distinguished  the  era  of  his  life. 

The  finger  of  an  overruling  Providence,  pointing  at  Washington,  was 
neither  mistaken  nor  unobserved  when,  to  realize  the  vast  hopes  to 
which  our  Revolution  had  given  birth,  a  change  of  political  system 
became  indispensable. 

How  novel,  how  grand  the  spectacle  !  Independent  States,  stretched 
over  an  immense  territory,  and  known  only  by  common  difl&culty,  clinging 
to  their  union  as  the  rock  of  their  safety,  deciding  by  frank  comparison  of 
their  relative  condition  to  rear  on  that  rock,  under  the  guidance  of  reason, 
a  common  government,  through  whose  commanding  protection,  liberty 
and  order,  with  their  long  train  of  blessings,  should  be  safe  to  themselves, 
and  the  sure  inheritance  of  their  posterity. 

This  arduous  task  devolved  on  citizens  selected  by  the  people,  from 
knowledge  of  their  wisdom  and  confidence  in  their  virtue.  In  this  august 
assembly  of  sages  and  of  patriots,  Washington  of  course  was  found  ;  and,  as 
if  acknowledged  to  be  most  wise  where  all  were  wise,  with  one  voice  he 
was  declared  their  chief.  How  well  he  merited  this  rare  distinction,  how 
faithful  were  the  labors  of  himself  and  his  compatriots,  the  work  of  their 
hands,  and  our  union,  strength  and  prosperity,  the  fruits  of  that  work, 
best  attest. 

But  to  have  essentially  aided  in  presenting  to  his  country  this  consum- 
mation of  her  hopes  neither  satisfied  the  claims  of  his  fellow-citizens  on 
his  talents,  nor  those  duties  which  the  possession  of  those  talents  imposed. 
Heaven  had  not  infused  into  his  mind  such  an  uncommon  share  of  its 
ethereal  spirit  to  remain  unemployed ;  nor  bestowed  on  him  his  genius 
unaccompanied  with  the  corresponding  duty  of  devoting  it  to  the  common 
good.  To  have  framed  a  constitution,  was  showing  only,  without  real- 
izing, the  general  happiness.  This  great  work  remained  to  be  done  ;  and 
America,  steadfast  in  her  preference,  with  one  voice  summoned  her 
beloved  Washington,  unpracticed  as  he  was  in  the  duties  of  civil  admin- 
istration, to  execute  this  last  act  in  the  completion  of  the  national  felicity. 
Obedient  to  her  call,  he  assumed  the  high  ofiice  with  that  self-distrust 
peculiar  to  his  innate  modesty,  the  constant  attendant  of  pre-eminent 
virtue.  What  was  the  burst  of  joy  through  our  anxious  land,  on  this 
exhilarating  event,  is  known  to  us  all.     The  aged,  the  young,  the  brave, 


HENRY  LEE  61 

the  fair  rivaled  each  other  in  demonstrations  of  their  gratitude  ;  and  this 
high-wrought,  delightful  scene,  was  heightened  in  its  effect  by  the 
singular  contest  between  the  zeal  of  the  bestowers  and  the  avoidance  of 
the  receiver  of  the  honors  bestowed.  Commencing  his  administration, 
what  heart  is  not  charmed  with  the  recollection  of  the  pure  and  wise 
principles  announced  by  himself,  as  the  basis  of  his  political  life  !  He 
best  understood  the  indissoluble  union  between  virtue  and  happiness, 
between  duty  and  advantage,  between  the  genuine  maxims  of  an  honest 
and  magnanimous  policy  and  the  solid  rewards  of  public  prosperity  and 
individual  felicity  ;  watching,  with  an  equal  and  comprehensive  eye,  over 
this  great  assemblage  of  communities  and  interests,  he  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  our  national  policy  in  the  unerring,  immutable  principles  of 
morality,  based  on  religion,  exemplifying  the  pre-eminence  of  a  free 
government  by  all  the  attributes  which  win  the  affections  of  its  citizens, 
or  command  the  respect  of  the  world. 

**  O  fortunatos  nimium,  sua  si  bona  norint !  ** 

Leading  through  the  complicated  diflBculties  produced  by  previous 
obligations  and  conflicting  interests,  seconded  by  succeeding  Houses  of 
Congress,  enlightened  and  patriotic,  he  surmounted  all  original  obstruc- 
tion, and  brightened  the  path  of  our  national  felicity.  .    »    .    . 

Pursuing  steadfastly  his  course,  he  held  safe  the  public  happiness, 
preventing  foreign  war,  and  quelling  internal  discord,  till  the  revolving 
period  of  a  third  election  approached,  when  he  executed  his  interrupted 
but  inextinguishable  desire  of  returning  to  the  humble  walks  of  private 
life. 

The  promulgation  of  his  fixed  resolution  stopped  the  anxious  wishes 
of  an  affectionate  people  from  adding  a  third  unanimous  testimonial  of 
their  unabated  confidence  in  the  man  so  long  enthroned  in  their  hearts. 
When  before  was  affection  like  this  exhibited  on  earth  ?  Turn  over  the 
records  of  ancient  Greece  ;  review  the  annals  of  mighty  Rome  ;  examine 
the  volumes  of  modern  Europe;  you  search  in  vain.  America  and  her 
Washington  only  afford  the  dignified  exemplification. 

The  illustrious  personage,  called  by  the  national  voice  in  succession 
to  the  arduous  ofiice  of  guiding  a  free  people,  had  new  difficulties  to 
encounter.  The  amicable  effort  of  settling  our  difficulties  with  France, 
begun  by  Washington,  and  pursued  by  his  successor  in  virtue  as  in  station, 
proving  abortive,  America  took  measures  of  self-defence.  No  sooner  was 
the  public  mind  roused  by  a  prospect  of  danger,  than  every  eye  was 
turned  to  the  friend  of  all,  though  secluded  from  public  view,  and  gray  in 
public  service.     The  virtuous  veteran,  following  his  plough,  received  the 


52  HENRY  LEE 

unexpected  summons  with  mingled  emotions  of  indignation  at  the  unmeri- 
ted ill-treatment  of  his  country,  and  of  a  determination  once  more  to  risk 
his  all  in  her  defence.  The  annunciation  of  these  feelings,  in  his  affecting 
letter  to  the  President,  accepting  the  command  of  the  army,  concludes 
his  official  conduct. 

First  in  war,  first  in  pkack  and  first  in  thk  hearts  of  his 
COUNTRYMEN,  he  was  second  to  none  in  the  humble  and  endearing  scenes 
of  private  life.  Pious,  just,  humane,  temperate,  and  sincere;  uniform, 
dignified  and  commanding,  his  example  was  as  edifying  to  all  around 
him  as  were  the  effects  of  that  example  lasting. 

To  his  equals  he  was  condescending  ;  to  his  inferiors  kind ;  and  to 
the  dear  object  of  his  affections  exemplarily  tender.  Correct  throughout, 
vice  shuddered  in  his  presence,  and  virtue  always  felt  his  fostering  hand  ; 
the  purity  of  his  private  character  gave  effulgence  to  his  public  virtues. 

His  last  scene  comported  with  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life  ;  although 
in  extreme  pain,  not  a  sigh,  not  a  groan  escaped  him  ;  and  with  undis- 
turbed serenity  he  closed  his  well-spent  life.  Such  was  the  man  America 
has  lost  !     Such  was  the  man  for  whom  our  nation  mourns  ! 

Methinks  I  see  his  august  image,  and  hear,  falling  from  his  venerable 
lips,  these  deep  sinking  words  : 

'  "^'  Cease,  sons  of  America,  lamenting  our  separation  ;  go  on  and  con- 
firm by  your  wisdom  the  fruits  of  our  joint  counsels,  joint  efforts,  and 
common  dangers.  Reverence  religion ;  diffuse  knowledge  throughout 
your  land  ;  patronize  the  arts  and  sciences  ;  let  liberty  and  order  be  insepar- 
able companions  ;  control  party  spirit,  the  bane  of  free  government  ; 
observe  good  faith  to  and  cultivate  peace  with  all  nations  ;  shut  up  every 
avenue  to  foreign  influence  ;  contract  rather  than  extend  national  connec- 
tion ;  rely  on  yourselves  only  ;  be  American  in  thought  and  deed.  Thus 
will  you  give  immortality  to  the  Union  which  was  the  constant  object  of 
my  terrestrial  labors.  Thus  will  you  preserve,  undisturbed,  to  the  latest 
posterity,  the  felicity  of  a  people  to  me  most  dear  ;  and  thus  will  you 
supply  (if  my  happiness  is  now  aught  to  you)  the  only  vacancy  in  the 
round  of  pure  bliss  high  Heaven  bestows. ' ' 


GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS  (1 752- J 816) 

THE  ONE-LEGGED  STATESMAN 


mHE  early  period  of  United  States  history  brought  distinction  to 
two  men  of  the  name  of  Morris,  especially  to  Robert  Morris,  the 
financier  of  the  Revolution.  The  second,  Gouverneur  Morris, 
while  less  distinguished,  made  himself  prominent  among  the  states- 
men and  orators  of  that  era.  He  began  to  win  credit  for  oratory  in  his 
college  career.  He  became  a  lawyer  in  1771,  and  in  this  profession 
soon  gained  reputation  for  unusual  eloquence.  During  the  Revolu- 
tion he  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress.  In  1780,  after 
he  had  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law,  he  had  the  misfortune  to  be 
thrown  from  his  carriage,  and  was  so  injured  that  the  amputation  of 
his  leg  became  necessary,  a  loss  which  he  bore  with  remarkable 
fortitude. 

In  1781  he  was  appointed  assistant  to  Robert  Morris  in  adjust- 
ing the  finances  of  the  country,  and  remained  his  aid  for  three  years. 
In  1787  he  became  a  member  of  the  Convention  that  framed  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  of  which,  as  ■  Madison  says,  ''  he 
was  an  able,  an  eloquent,  and  an  active  member.  .  .  .  The  finish 
given  to  the  style  and  arrangement  of  the  Constitution  fairly  belongs 
to  the  pen  of  Mr.  Morris."  He  was  sent  as  Minister  to  France  in 
1792,  and  in  1800  was  elected  United  States  Senator  from  New  York. 
While  in  Paris,  he  wore  an  ordinary  wooden  leg,  in  preference  to  any 
artistic  substitute  for  his  lost  limb.  It  served  him  well  on  one  occa- 
sion during  the  French  Revolution.  A  mob. of  fiery  revolutionists 
attacked  his  carriage  in  the  street,  with  the  fatal  cry  of ''  Aristocrat !" 
Morris  coolly  thrust  his  wooden  leg  out  of  the  window,  and  cried  out : 
"An  aristocrat?  Yes;  who  lost  his  leg  in  the  cause  of  American 
liberty  ? "     This  apt   reply  turned   the   temper   of  the    mob  ;    they 

53 


54  GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS 

cheered  the  man  they  had  been  eager  to  hang,  and  the  quick-witted 
American  proceeded  triumphantly  on  his  way. 

•     THE  FREE  USE  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI 

[In  the  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  emigrants  from  the 
Eastern  States  were  pouring  rapidly  into  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  the  freedom  of 
navigation  of  that  great  artery  of  the  West  became  a  burning  question,  and  the  obsta- 
cles which  the  Spanish  at  New  Orleans  put  in  the  way  of  free  river  commerce  stirred 
up  the  high-spirited  pioneers  almost  to  the  point  of  war.  In  1802  it  was  learned  that 
France,  by  a  secret  treaty  with  Spain,  had  become  the  owners  of  the  I^ouisiana 
territory,  and  the  irritation  which  had  existed  in  the  country  deepened  into  alarm. 
Napoleon,  then  First  Consul  of  France,  was  a  different  character  to  deal  with  than 
the  weak  monarch  of  Spain,  and  it  was  impossible  to  conjecture  to  what  critical  con- 
ditions his  restless  ambition  might  lead.  The  difficulty  was  soon  to  be  settled  by  the 
diplomacy  of  Jefferson  and  his  ministers,  who  purchased  the  whole  vast  traot  from 
Napoleon  ;  but  it  was  a  burning  question  on  the  24th  of  February,  1803,  when  Morris 
delivered  an  able  and  spirited  speech,  in  which  he  openly  advocated  war  as  the  only 
available  means  of  securing  the  freedom  of  America's  greatest  stream.  We  quote 
some  stirring  passages  from  this  lengthy  address.] 

What  is  the  state  of  things  ?  There  has  been  a  cession  of  the  island 
of  New  Orleans  and  of  Louisiana  to  France.  Whether  the  Floridas  have 
also  been  ceded  is  not  yet  certain.  It  has  been  said,  as  from  authority,  and 
I  think  it  probable.  Now,  sir,  let  us  note  the  time  and  the  manner  of  this 
cession.  It  was  at  or  immediately  after  the  treaty  of  Luneville,  at  the 
first  moment  when  France  could  take  up  a  distant  object  of  attention. 
But  had  Spain  a  right  to  make  this  cession  without  our  consent  ?  Gentle- 
men have  taken  it  for  granted  that  she  had.  But  I  deny  the  position.  No 
nation  has  a  right  to  give  to  another  a  dangerous  neighbor  without  her 
consent.  This  is  not  like  the  case  of  private  citizens,  for  there,  when  a 
man  is  injured,  he  can  resort  to  the  tribunals  for  redress ;  and  yet,  even 
there,  to  dispose  of  property  to  one  who  is  a  bad  neighbor,  is  always  con- 
sidered as  an  act  of  unkindness.  But  as  between  nations,  who  can  redress 
themselves  only  by  war,  such  transfer  is  in  itself  an  aggression 

But  it  is  not  this  transfer  alone  ;  there  are  circumstances,  both  in  the 
time  and  in  the  manner  of  it,  which  deserve  attention.  A  gentleman  from 
Maryland,  Mr.  Wright,  has  told  you,  that  all  treaties  ought  to  be  pub- 
lished and  proclaimed  for  the  information  of  other  nations.  I  ask,  was 
this  a  public  treaty  ?  No.  Was  official  notice  of  it  given  to  the  govern- 
ment of  this  country  ?  Was  it  announced  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  usual  forms  of  civility  between  nations  who  duly  respect 
each  other  ?  It  was  not.  Let  gentlemen  contradict  me  if  they  can.  They 
will  say,  perhaps,  that  it  was  the  omission  only  of  a  vain  and  idle  cere- 
mony.    Ignorance  may,  indeed,  pretend  that  such  communication  is  an 


I 


GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS  55 

empty  compliment,  which,  established  without  use,  may  be  omitted"with- 
out  offence.  But  this  is  not  so.  If  these  be  ceremonies,  they  are  not  vain, 
but  of  serious  import,  and  are  founded  on  strong  reason.  He  who  means 
me  well,  acts  without  disguise.  Had  this  transaction  been  intended 
fairly,  it  would  have  been  told  frankly.  But  it  was  secret  because  it  was 
hostile.  The  First  Consul,  in  the  moment  of  terminating  his  differences 
with  you,  sought  the  means  of  future  influence  and  control.  He  sought 
and  secured  a  pivot  for  that  immense  lever  by  which,  with  potent  arm,  he 
means  to  subvert  your  civil  and  political  institutions.  Thus,  the  begin- 
ning was  made  in  deep  hostility.  Conceived  in  such  principles,  it  pre- 
saged no  good.     Its  bodings  were  evil  and  evil  have  been  its  fruits. 

[After  reviewing  the  state  of  Europe  under  the  domination  of  Napoleon,  and 
the  value  of  the  territory  bordering  on  the  Mississippi,  the  speaker  proceeds.] 

Having  now  considered  in  its  various  relations,  the  importance  of 
these  provinces,  the  way  is  open  to  estimate  our  chance  of  obtaining  them 
by  negotiation.  Let  me  ask  on  what  ground  you  mean  to  treat.  Do  you 
expect  to  persuade  ?  Do  you  hope  to  intimidate  ?  If  to  persuade,  what 
are  your  means  of  persuasion  ?  Every  gentleman  admits  the  importance 
of  this  country.  Think  you  the  First  Consul,  whose  capacious  mind  em- 
braces the  globe,  is  alone  ignorant  of  its  value  ?  Is  he  a  child,  whom  you 
may  win  by  a  rattle  to  comply  with  your  wishes  ?  Will  you,  like  a  nurse, 
sing  to  him  a  lullaby  ?  If  you  have  no  hope  from  fondling  attentions  and 
soothing  sounds,  what  have  you  to  offer  in  exchange?  Have  you  any- 
thing to  give  which  he  will  take  ?  He  wants  power  :  you  have  no  power. 
He  wants  dominion  :  you  have  no  dominion — at  least  none  that  you  can 
grant.  He  wants  influence  in  Europe.  And  have  you  any  influence  in 
Europe?  What,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  are  the  means  by  which  you 
would  render  this  negotiation  successful  ?  Is  it  by  some  secret  spell  ? 
Have  you  any  magic  power?  Will  you  draw  a  circle  and  conjure  up 
devils  to  assist  you  ?  Or  do  you  rely  on  the  charms  of  those  beautiful 
girls  with  whom,  the  gentleman  near  me  says,  the  French  grenadiers  are 
to  incorporate  ?     If  so,  why  do  you  not  send  an  embassy  of  women  ? 

Gentlemen  talk  of  the  principles  of  our  government,  as  if  they  could 
obtain  for  us  the  desired  boon.  But  what  will  these  principles  avail? 
When  you  inquire  as  to  the  force  of  France,  Austria,  or  Russia,  do  you 
ask  whether  they  have  a  habeas  corpus  act,  or  a  trial  by  jury  ?  Do  you 
estimate  their  power,  discuss  their  interior  police  ?  No  !  The  question 
is,  How  many  battalions  have  they  ?  What  train  of  artillery  can  they 
bring  into  the  field  ?  How  many  ships  can  they  send  to  sea  ?  These  are 
the  important  circumstances  which  command  respect  and  facilitate  nego- 
tiation.     Can  you  display  these  powerful  motives  ?     Alas  !    Alas  !     To 


56  GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS 

all  these  questions  you  answer  by  one  poor  word — confidence — confidence 
— confidence — yea,  verily,  we  have  confidence.  We  have  faith  and  hope: 
aye,  and  we  have  charity,  too.  Well— go  to  market  with  these  Christian 
virtues,  and  what  will  you  get  for  them  ?    Just  nothing 

Look  at  the  conduct  of  America  in  her  infant  years.  When  there 
was  no  actual  invasion  of  right,  but  only  a  claim  to  invade,  she  resisted 
the  claim  ;  she  spurned  the  insult.  Did  we  then  hesitate  ?  Did  we  then 
wait  for  foreign  alliance?  No  !  animated  with  the  spirit,  warmed  with 
the  soul,  of  freedom,  we  threw  our  oaths  of  allegiance  in  the  face  of  our 
sovereign,  and  committed  our  fortunes  and  our  fate  to  the  God  of  battles. 
We  then  were  subjects.  We  had  not  then  attained  to  the  dignity  of  an  inde- 
pendent republic.  We  then  had  no  rank  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
But  we  had  the  spirit  which  deserved  that  elevated  station.  And  now 
that  we  have  gained  it,  shall  we  fall  from  our  honor  ? 

Sir,  I  repeat  to  you  that  I  wish  for  peace :  real,  lasting,  honorable 
peace.  To  obtain  and  secure  this  blessing,  let  us,  by  a  bold  and  decisive 
conduct,  convince  the  powers  of  Europe  that  we  are  determined  to  defend 
our  rights  ;  that  we  will  not  submit  to  insult ;  that  we  will  not  bear  degra- 
dation. This  is  the  conduct  which  becomes  a  generous  people.  This 
conduct  will  command  the  respect  of  the  world.  Nay,  sir,  it  may  rouse 
all  Europe  to  a  proper  sense  of  their  situation.  They  see  that  the  balance 
of  power,  on  which  their  liberties  depend,  is,  if  not  destroyed,  in  extreme 
danger.  They  know  that  the  dominion  of  France  has  been  extended  by 
the  sword  over  millions  who  groan  in  the  servitude  of  their  new  masters. 
These  unwilling  subjects  are  ripe  for  revolt.  The  empire  of  the  Gauls  is 
not,  like  that  of  Rome,  secured  by  political  institutions.  It  may  yet  be 
broken.  But  whatever  may  be  the  conduct  of  others,  let  us  act  as  becomes 
ourselves.  I  cannot  believe,  with  my  honorable  colleague,  that  three- 
fourths  of  America  are  opposed  to  vigorous  measures.  I  cannot  believe 
that  they  will  meanly  refuse  to  pay  the  sums  needful  to  vindicate  their 
honor  and  support  their  independence.  Sir,  this  is  a  libel  on  the  people  4 
of  America.  They  will  disdain  submission  to  the  proudest  sovereign  on 
earth.  They  have  not  lost  the  spirit  of  '76.  But,  sir,  if  they  are  so  base 
as  to  barter  their  rights  for  gold,  if  they  are  so  vile  that  they  will  not 
defend  their  honor,  they  are  unworthy  of  the  rank  they  enjoy,  and  it  is  no. 
matter  how  soon  they  are  parcelled  out  among  better  masters. 


JOHN  MARSHALL  (J75J-J83J) 

AMERICA'S  GREATEST  JURIST 


mHERE  important  careers  are  rarely  embraced  in  the  life  of  a  single 
man,  yet  in  John  Marshall  we  find  ourselves  in  the  presence 
at  once  of  a  brave  soldier,  an  able  statesman,  and  an  eminent 
jurist.  Born  in  Virginia,  the  foster-home  of  statesmen,  Marshall  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  taking  part  in  the  battles  of  Brandy  wine, 
Germantown  and  Monmouth  and  enduring  the  terrible  winter  at 
Valley  Forge.  His  duties  as  a  statesman  began  in  the  Virginia  Con- 
vention called  to  ratify  the  Constitution,  where  he  ably  supported 
Madison.  He  served  afterward  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  and  for 
a  term  in  Congress,  also  for  a  brief  period  as  Secretary  of  State  under 
President  Adams.  In  his  profession,  that  of  the  law,  he  manifested 
unusual  ability,  and  in  time  won  such  wide  recognition  that  on  the 
resignation  of  Chief- Justice  Ellsworth  in  1801  he  was  appointed  to 
the  high  position  of  Chief-Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  For  thirty-four  years,  until  his  death,  he  performed  the  duties 
of  this  office  with  a  learning,  wisdom,  and  brilliancy  as  a  jurist  and 
expounder  of  the  Constitution  which  have  never  been  equalled. 
Judge  Story  thus  speaks  of  his  able  decisions  on  Constitutional  law  : 
''If  all  others  of  the  Chief  Justice's  judicial  arguments  had  perished, 
his  luminous  judgments  upon  these  occasions  would  have  given  an 
enviable  immortality  to  his  name." 

THE  DEFENCE  OF  NASH 
[Of  the  examples  of  Marshall's  powers  of  oratory,  the   most   famous  is  the  ^- 
logical  argument  which  he  made  in  Congress  on  March  4,  1800,  defending  President .-+~ 
Adams  for  the  surrender  of  a  sailor  named  Thomas  Nash,  who  was  claimed  by  the  ^ 
British  government  as  a  fugitive  from  justice.     This  speech  settled  for  all  time  the    \a 

question  whether  such  cases  should  be  decided  by  the  executive  or  the  judiciary.      v 

Griswold  says,  in  his  "Prose  Writers  of  America,"  "That  argument  deserves  to  be  ^ 


67 


^ 


58  JOHN  MARSHALL 

ranked  among  the  most  dignified  displays  of  the  human  intellect."  As  a  close  judicial 
study  and  decision,  resembling  those  for  which  Marshall  afterward  became  famous,  its 
strength  and  balance  could  be  shown  only  by  giving  it  in  full.  While  this  cannot  be 
done  here,  its  character  will  be  indicated  by  our  extracts.] 

The  case  stated  is,  that  Thomas  Nash,  having  committed  a  murder  on 
board  of  a  British  frigate,  navigating  the  high  seas  under  a  commission  from 
His  Britannic  Majesty,  had  sought  an  asylum  within  the  United  States, 
and  on  this  case  his  delivery  was  demanded  by  the  minister  of  the  King  of 
Great  Britain. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  case  stated,  if  supported  by  proof,  is  within  the 
letter  of  the  article,  provided  a  murder  committed  in  a  British  frigate,  on 
the  high  seas,  be  committed  within  the  jurisdiction  of  that  nation. 

That  such  a  murder  is  within  their  jurisdiction,  has  been  fully  shown 
by  the  gentleman  from  Delaware.  The  principle  is,  that  the  jurisdiction 
of  a  nation  extends  to  the  whole  of  its  territory,  and  to  its  own  citizens  in 
every  part  of  the  world.  The  laws  of  a  nation  are  rightfully  obligatory  on 
its  own  citizens  in  every  situation,  where  those  laws  are  really  extended 
to  them.  This  principle  is  founded  on  the  nature  of  civil  union.  It  is 
supported  everywhere  by  public  opinion,  and  is  recognized  by  writers  on 
the  law  of  nations.  Rutherforth,  in  his  second  volume,  p.  i8o,  says  : 
"  The  jurisdiction  which  a  civil  society  has  over  the  persons  of  its  members, 
affects  them  immediately,  whether  they  are  within  its  territories  or  not." 

This  general  principle  is  especially  true,  and  is  particularly  recog- 
nized, with  respect  to  the  fleets  of  a  nation  on  the  high  seas.  To  punish 
offences  committed  in  its  fleet  is  the  practice  of  every  nation  in  the  uni- 
verse ;  and  consequently  the  opinion  of  the  world  is  that  a  fleet  at  sea  is 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  nation  to  which  it  belongs.  Rutherforth, 
volume  2,  p.  491,  says:  ''There  can  be  no  doubt  about  the  jurisdiction 
(Df  a  nation  over  the  persons  which  compose  its  fleets,  when  they  are  out 
at  sea,  whether  they  are  sailing  upon  it  or  are  stationed  in  any  particular 
part  of  it. ' ' 

The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Gallatin),  though  he  has  not 
directly  controverted  this  doctrine,  has  sought  to  weaken  it  by  observing 
that  the  jurisdiction  of  a  nation  at  sea  could  not  be  complete  even  in  its 
own  vessels  ;  and,  in  support  of  this  position,  he  urged  the  admitted  prac- 
tice of  submitting  to  search  for  contraband — a  practice  not  tolerated  on 
land,  within  the  territory  of  a  neutral  power.  The  rule  is  as  stated  ;  but 
is  founded  on  a  principle  which  does  not  affect  the  jurisdiction  of  a  nation 
over  its  citizens  or  subjects  in  its  ships.  The  principle  is,  that  in  the  sea 
itself  no  nation  has  any  jurisdiction.  All  may  equally  exercise  their 
lights,  and  consequently  the  right  of  a  belligerent  power  to  prevent  aid 


JOHN   MARSHALL  69 

being  given  to  his  enemy  is  not  restrained  by  any  superior  right  of  a  neu- 
tral in  the  place.  But  if  this  argument  possessed  any  force,  it  would  not 
apply  to  national  ships  of  war,  since  the  usage  of  nations  does  not  permit 
them  to  be  searched. 

According  to  the  practice  of  the  world,  then,  and  the  opinions  of 
writers  on  the  law  of  nations,  the  murder  committed  on  board  of  a  British 
frigate  navigating  the  high  seas  was  a  murder  committed  within  the  jur- 
isdiction of  the  British  nation 

Gentlemen  have  considered  it  as  an  offence  against  judicial  authority, 
and  a  violation  of  judicial  rights,  to  withdraw  from  their  sentence  a 
criminal  against  whom  a  prosecution  had  been  commenced.  They  have 
treated  the  subject  as  if  it  were  the  privilege  of  courts  to  condemn  to 
death  the  guilty  wretch  arraigned  at  their  bar,  and  that  to  intercept  the 
judgment  was  to  violate  the  privilege.  Nothing  can  be  more  incorrect 
than  this  view  of  the  case.  It  is  not  the  privilege,  it  is  the  sad  duty,  of 
courts  to  administer  criminal  judgment.  It  is  a  duty  to  be  performed  at 
the  demand  of  the  nation,  and  with  which  the  nation  has  a  right  to  dis- 
pense. If  judgment  of  death  is  to  be  pronounced,  it  must  be  at  the 
prosecution  of  the  nation,  and  the  nation  may  at  will  stop  that  prosecu- 
tion. In  this  respect  the  President  expresses  constitutionally  the  will  of 
the  nation  ;  and  may  rightfully  enter  a  nolle  prosequi,  or  direct  that  the 
criminal  be  prosecuted  no  further.  This  is  no  interference  with  judicial 
decisions,  nor  any  invasion  of  the  province  of  a  court.  It  is  the  exercise 
of  an  indubitable  and  a  constitutional  power 

After  trespassing  so  long  on  the  patience  of  the  House,  in  arguing 
what  has  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  material  points  growing  out  of  the 
resolutions,  I  regret  the  necessity  of  detaining  you  still  longer  for  the 
purpose  of  noticing  an  observation  which  appears  not  to  be  considered  by 
the  gentleman  who  made  it  as  belonging  to  the  argument. 

The  subject  introduced  by  this  observation,  however,  is  so  calcu- 
lated to  interest  the  public  feelings,  that  I  must  be  excused  for  stating 
my  opinion  on  it. 

The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  has  said,  that  an  impressed  Amer- 
ican seaman,  who  should  commit  homicide  for  the  purpose  of  liberating 
himself  from  the  vessel  in  which  he  is  confined,  ought  not  to  be  given  up 
as  a  murderer.  In  this,  I  concur  entirely  with  the  gentleman.  I  believe 
the  opinion  to  be  unquestionably  correct,  as  were  the  reasons  that  gentle- 
man has  given  in  support  of  it.  I  have  never  heard  any  American  avow  a 
contrary  sentiment,  nor  do  I  believe  a  contrary  sentiment  could  find  a 
place  in  the  bosom  of  any  American.  I  cannot  pretend, 'and  do  not 
pretend,  to  know  the  opinion  of  the  executive  on  the  subject,  because  I 


60  JOHN  MARSHALL 

have  never  heard  the  opinions  of  that  department ;  but  I  feel  the  most 
perfect  conviction,  founded  on  the  general  conduct  of  the  government, 
that  it  could  never  surrender  an  impressed  American  to  the  nation 
which,  in  making  an  impressment,  had  committed  a  national  injury. 

The  belief  is,  in  no  degree,  shaken  by  the  conduct  of  the  executive 
in  this  particular  case. 

In  my  own  mind  it  is  a  sufficient  defence  of  the  President  from  an 
imputation  of  this  kind,  that  the  fact  of  Thomas  Nash  being  an  impressed 
American  was  obviously  not  contemplated  by  him  in  the  decision  he 
made  on  the  principles  of  the  case.  Consequently,  if  a  new  circumstance 
occurred  which  would  essentially  change  the  case  decided  by  the  Presi- 
dent, the  judge  ought  not  to  have  acted  under  that  decision,  but  the  new 
circumstance  ought  to  have  been  stated.  Satisfactory  as  this  defence 
might  appear,  I  shall  not  resort  to  it,  because  to  some  it  might  seem  a 
subterfuge.  I  defend  the  conduct  of  the  President  on  other  and  still 
stronger  ground. 

The  President  had  decided  that  a  murder  committed  on  board  a 
British  frigate  on  the  high  seas  was  within  the  jurisdiction  of  that  nation, 
and  consequently  within  the  twenty-seventh  article  of  its  treaty  with  the 
United  States.  He  therefore  directed  Thomas  Nash  to  be  delivered  to  the 
British  minister,  if  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  murder  should  be 
adduced.  The  sufficiency  of  the  evidence  was  submitted  entirely  to  the 
judge. 

If  Thomas  Nash  had  committed  a  murder,  the  decision  was  that  he 
should  be  surrendered  to  the  British  minister  ;  but  if  he  had  not  committed 
a  murder,  he  was  not  to  be  surrendered.  Had  Thomas  Nash  been  an 
impressed  American,  the  homicide  on  board  the  Hermione  would,  most 
certainly,  not  have  been  a  murder. 

The  act  of  impressing  an  American  is  an  act  of  lawless  violence. 
The  confinement  on  board  a  vessel  is  a  continuation  of  that  violence,  and 
an  additional  outrage.  Death  committed  within  the  United  States,  in 
resisting  such  violence,  would  not  have  been  murder,  and  the  person 
giving  the  wound  could  not  have  been  treated  as  a  murderer.  Thomas 
Nash  was  only  to  have  been  delivered  up  to  justice  on  such  evidence  as, 
had  the  fact  been  committed  within  the  United  States,  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  have  induced  his  commitment  and  trial  for  murder.  Of  conse- 
quence, the  decision  of  the  President  was  so  expressed  as  to  exclude  the 
case  of  an  impressed  American  liberating  himself  by  homicide. 


BOOK  IL 

The  Golden  Age  of  American  Oratory 


I 
I 


O' 


what  may  be  called  the  critical  periods  In  the 
history  of  the  United  States,  there  have 
been  two  which  stand  pre-eminent  in  the 
development  of  oratory  as  in  other  respects.  The 
first  of  these  was  the  period  of  unrest  and  social  and 
political  turmoil  which  led  to  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution and  to  the  formation  of  the  Constitution.  The 
second  was  the  period  of  equal  disturbance  which  had 
its  outcome  in  the  Civil  War.  In  both  cases  a  con- 
flict of  words  preceded  that  of  arms.  The  voice  of 
the  orator  was  the  weapon  employed,  and  a  long  con- 
test on  the  rostrum  preceded  the  appeal  to  arms. 
With  the  first  of  these  periods  we  have  already  dealt. 
The  second  was  dominated  by  two  exciting  political 
problems,  the  tariff  question  and  the  slavery  contro- 
versy. The  first  of  these  led  to  the  attempted  seces- 
sion from  the  Union  of  South  Carolina.  Its  most 
notable  result,  so  far  as  oratory  is  concerned,  was 
the  famous  Congressional  debate  between  Daniel 
Webster  and  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  the  grandest  verbal 
passage-at-arms  in  American  history.  The  other  sub- 
ject of  controversy  was  more  extended  ;  continuing 
for  forty  years,  during  which  the  halls  of  Congress 
rang  with  arguments  of  fiery  contestants  ;  and  ending 
in  actual  war  when  logic  and  argument  had  failed  to 
smooth  the  waves  of  hostile  feeling.  This  period  has 
been  well  denominated  **  The  Golden  Age  of  American 
Oratory."  It  gave  rise  to  such  giants  in  debate  as 
Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  and  added  to  the  literature 
of  oratory  many  brilliant  examples  of  the  speaker's  art, 

61 


JOSIAH  QUINCY  (J 772-1 864) 

A  FAMOUS  FATHER  AND  SON 


mHE  name  of  Josiah  Quincy  appertains  to  two  orators,  father 
and  son ;  one  belonging  to  the  eighteenth  and  the  other  to 
the  nineteenth  century ;  the  father  distinguished  before  the 
first  war  with  Great  Britain,  the  son  before  the  second  war.  A  man 
of  fervid  and  powerful  eloquence,  of  warm  patriotism  yet  of  high  sense 
of  justice,  was  Josiah  Quincy,  the  elder.  While  ardent  for  independ- 
ence, he  was  as  earnest  in  defence  of  human  rights,  as  is  shown  in  his 
defence  of  the  soldiers  who  took  part  in  the  so-called  "  Boston  Mas- 
sacre," and  against  whom  the  people  of  Massachusetts  were  incensed 
beyond  the  bounds  of  reason.  In  this  work  of  charity  he  was  aided 
by  John  Adams,  another  patriot  w^ho  set  justice  above  expediency. 

The  son  became  as  able  and  famous  an  orator  as  the  father.  He 
represented  Boston  in  Congress  from  1804  to  1813  as  a  Federalist,  and 
opposed  the  party  in  power  with  great  energy  and  ability.  "  He  was 
equal  to  the  emergency,"  says  Griswold,  ^'and  sustained  himself  on  all 
occasions  with  manly  independence,  sound  argument,  and  fervid 
declamation."  While  the  orations  of  the  father  are  traditional,  those 
of  the  son  are  on  record,  some  of  his  ablest  speeches  being  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  Embargo  Act  of  1807,  the  admission  of  Louisiana  in  1811, 
and  the  war  of  1812.  After  leaving  Congress,  Mr.  Quincy  served  as 
a  senator  and  a  judge  in  Massachusetts,  Mayor  of  Boston  from  1823 
to  1829  and  president  of  Harvard  College  from  1829  to  1845.  He 
died  in  1864  at  ninety- two  years  of  age,  having  lived  through  both 
the  Revolutionary  and  Civil  Wars. 

THE  EVILS  OF  THE  EMBARGO  ACT 

[The  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  signalized  by  the  tremendous 
conflict  between  Europe  and  France,  in  which  England  was  Napoleon's  deadliest  foe. 
The  United  States  could  not  help  being  affected  by  this  stupendous  warfare.     Sailors 
62 


JOSIAH  QUINCY  63 

were  taken  from  her  merchant  ships  by  British  war  vessels,  and  proclamations  by 
England  and  France  in  1806  and  1807  almost  put  an  end  to  her  ocean  trade.  England 
seized  vessels  sailing  to  ports  under  French  influence.  France  seized  those  sailing  to 
British  ports.  Between  the  two  no  commerce  was  safe.  Congress  retaliated  by  pass- 
ing an  Embargo  Act,  which  forbade  American  merchant  vessels  to  leave  port  for 
foreign  lands  at  all,  and  prohibited  foreign  vessels  from  loading  in  American  ports. 
It  was  thought  this  would  seriously  injure  England  and  France  ;  but  it  injured 
America  more,  practically  putting  an  end  to  its  commerce.  The  law  was  not  repealed 
until  there  became  danger  of  New  England,  the  centre  of  commerce,  seceding  from 
the  Union.  This  danger  was  strongly  indicated  by  Josiah  Quincy,  November  28, 
1808,  in  a  speech  on  the  following  resolution  :  "  Resolved,  that  the  United  States  can- 
not, without  a  sacrifice  of  their  rights,  honor  and  independence,  submit  to  the  late 
edicts  of  Great  Britain  and  France."  We  give  some  extracts  from  this  fervidly  elo- 
quent speech.] 

When  I  enter  on  the  subject  of  the  embargo,  I  am  struck  with 
wonder  at  the  very  threshold.  I  know  not  with  what  words  to  express 
my  astonishment.  At  the  time  I  departed  from  Massachusetts,  if  there 
was  an  impression  which  I  thought  universal,  it  was  that,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  this  session,  an  end  would  be  put  to  this  measure.  The 
opinion  was  not  so  much,  that  it  would  be  terminated,  as  that  it  was  then 
at  an  end.  Sir,  the  prevailing  sentiment,  according  to  my  apprehension, 
was  stronger  than  this — even  that  the  pressure  was  so  great,  that  it  could 
not  possibly  be  endured  ;  that  it  would  soon  be  absolutely  insupportable. 
And  this  opinion,  as  I  then  had  reason  to  believe,  was  not  confined  to 
any  one  class,  or  description,  or  party  ;  that  even  those  who  were  friends 
of  the  existing  administration,  and  unwilling  to  abandon  it,  were  yet 
satisfied  that  a  sufficient  trial  had  been  given  to  this  measure.  With 
these  impressions  I  arrive  in  this  city.  I  hear  the  incantations  of  the 
great  enchanter.  I  feel  his  spell.  I  see  the  legislative  machinery  begin 
to  move.  The  scene  opens.  And  I  am  commanded  to  forget  all  my 
recollections,  to  disbelieve  the  evidence  of  my  senses,  to  contradict  what 
I  have  seen,  and  heard,  and  felt.  I  hear,  that  all  this  discontent  is  mere 
party  clamor — electioneering  artifice ;  that  the  people  of  New  England 
are  able  and  willing  to  endure  this  embargo  for  an  indefinite,  unlimited 
period  ;  some  say  for  six  months  ;  some  a  year  ;  some  two  years.  The 
gentleman  from  North  Carolina  (Mr.  Macon)  told  us,  that  he  preferred 
three  years  of  embargo  to  a  war.  And  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr. 
Clopton)  said  expressly,  that  he  hoped  we  should  never  allow  our  vessels 
to  go  upon  the  ocean  again,  until  the  orders  and  decrees  of  the  belligerents 
were  rescinded  ;  in  plain  English,  until  France  and  Great  Britain  should, 
in  their  great  condescension,  permit.  Good  heavens  !  Mr.  Chairman,  are 
men  mad  ?  Is  this  House  touched  with  that  insanity  which  is  the  never- 
failing  precursor  of  the  intention  of  Heaven  to  destroy  ?    The  people  of 


64  JOSIAH  QUINCY 

New  England,  after  eleven  months'  deprivation  of  the  ocean,  to  be  com- 
manded still  longer  to  abandon  it,  for  an  undefined  period  ;  to  hold  their 
unalienable  rights  at  the  tenure  of  the  will  of  Britain  or  of  Bonaparte  ! 
A  people,  commercial  in  all  aspects,  in  all  their  relations,  in  all  their 
hopes,  in  all  their  recollections  of  the  past,  in  all  their  prospects  of  the 
future  ;  a  people  whose  first  love  was  the  ocean,  the  choice  of  their  child- 
hood, the  approbation  of  their  manly  years,  the  most  precious  inheritance 
of  their  fathers;  in  the  midst  of  their  success,  in  the  moment  of  the 
most  exquisite  perception  of  commercial  prosperity,  to  be  commanded  to 
abandon  it,  not  for  a  time  limited,  but  for  a  time  unlimited  ;  not  until 
they  can  be  prepared  to  defend  themselves  there  (for  that  is  not  pretended), 
but  until  their  rivals  recede  from  it ;  not  until  their  necessities  require, 
but  until  foreign  nations  permit  !  I  am  lost  in  astonishment,  Mr.  Chair- 
man. I  have  not  words  to  express  the  matchless  absurdity  of  this  attempt. 
I  have  no  tongue  to  express  the  swift  and  headlong  destruction  which  a 
blind  perseverance  in  such  a  system  must  bring  upon  this  nation. 

But  men  from  New  England,  representatives  on  this  floor,  equally 
with  myself  the  constitutional  guardians  of  her  interests,  differ  from  me 
in  these  opinions.  My  honorable  colleague  (Mr.  Bacon)  took  occasion, 
in  secret  session,  to  deny  that  there  did  exist  all  that  discontent  and  dis- 
tress, which  I  had  attempted,  in  an  humble  way,  to  describe.  He  told  us 
he  had  traveled  in  Massachusetts,  that  the  people  were  not  thus  dissatisfied, 
that  the  embargo  had  not  produced  any  such  tragical  effects.  Really,  sir, 
my  honorable  colleague  has  traveled — all  the  way  from  Stockbridge  to 
Hudson  ;  from  Berkshire  to  Boston  ;  from  inn  to  inn  ;  from  county  court 
to  county  court ;  and  doubtless  he  collected  all  that  important  informa- 
tion which  an  acute  intelligence  never  fails  to  retain  on  such  occasions. 
He  found  tea,  sugar,  salt.  West  India  rum  and  molasses  dearer ;  beef, 
pork,  butter  and  cheese  cheaper.  Reflection  enabled  him  to  arrive  at  this 
difficult  result,  that  in  this  way  the  evil  and  the  good  of  the  embargo 
equalize  one  another.  But  has  my  honorable  colleague  traveled  on  the 
seaboard  ?  Has  he  witnessed  the  state  of  our  cities  ?  Has  he  seen  our 
ships  rotting  at  our  wharves,  our  wharves  deserted,  our  stores  tenantless, 
our  streets  bereft  of  active  business  ;  industry  forsaking  her  beloved 
haunts,  and  hope  fled  away  from  places  where  she  had  from  earliest  time 
been  accustomed  to  make  and  fulfil  her  most  precious  promises  ?  Has  he 
conversed  with  the  merchant,  and  heard  the  tale  of  his  embarrassments — 
his  capital  arrested  in  his  hands  ;  forbidden  by  your  laws  to  resort  to  a 
market ;  with  property  four  times  sufficient  to  discharge  all  his  engage- 
ments, necessitated  to  hang  on  the  precarious  mercy  of  moneyed  institu- 
tions for  that  indulgence  which  preserves  him  from  stopping  payment, 


1 


JOSIAH  QUINCY  65 

the  first  step  towards  Dankruptcy  ?  Has  he  conversed  with  our  mechan- 
ics ?  That  mechanic,  who,  the  day  before  this  embargo  passed,  the  very 
day  that  you  took  this  bit,  and  rolled  it  like  a  sweet  morsel  under  your 
tongue,  had  more  business  than  he  had  hands,  or  time,  or  thought  to 
employ  in  it,  now  soliciting,  at  reduced  prices,  that  employment  which 
the  rich,  owing  to  the  uncertainty  in  which  your  laws  have  involved  their 
capital,  cannot  afford  ?  I  could  heighten  this  picture.  I  could  show  you 
laboring  poor  in  the  almshouse,  and  willing  industry  dependent  upon 
charity.  But  I  confine  myself  to  particulars  which  have  fallen  under  my 
own  observation,  and  of  which  ten  thousand  suffering  individuals  on  the 
seaboard  of  New  England  are  living  witnesses  that  here  is  nothing  ficti- 
tious  

It  is  in  vain  to  say  that  if  the  embargo  was  raised  there  would  be  no 
market.  The  merchants  understand  that  subject  better  than  you  ;  and  the 
eagerness  with  which  preparations  to  load  were  carried  on  previous  to  the 
commencement  of  this  session,  speaks,  in  a  language  not  to  be  mistaken, 
their  opinion  of  the  foreign  markets.  But  it  has  been  asked  in  debate, 
''Will  not  Massachusetts,  the  cradle  of  liberty,  submit  to  such  priva- 
tions? "  An  embargo  liberty  was  never  cradled  in  Massachusetts.  Our 
liberty  was  not  so  much  a  mountain  as  a  sea-nymph.  She  was  free  as 
air.  She  could  swim,  or  she  could  run.  The  ocean  was  her  cradle. 
Our  fathers  met  her  as  she  came,  like  the  goddess  of  beauty,  from  the 
waves.  They  caught  her  as  she  was  sporting  on  the  beach.  They  courted 
her  whilst  she  was  spreading  her  nets  upon  the  rocks.  But  an  embargo 
liberty ;  a  hand-cuffed  liberty ;  a  liberty  in  fetters ;  a  liberty  traversing 
between  the  four  sides  of  a  prison  and  beating  her  head  against  the  walls, 
is  none  of  our  offspring.  We  abjure  the  monster.  Its  parentage  is  all 
inland  .... 

However,  suppose  that  the  payment  of  this  duty  is  inevitable,  which 
it  certainly  is  not,  let  me  ask — Is  embargo  independence  ?  Deceive  not 
yourselves.  It  is  palpable  submission.  Gentlemen  exclaim.  Great  Britain 
"smites  us  on  one  cheek."  And  what  does  administration?  "  It  turns 
the  other  also. ' '  Gentlemen  say  *  *  Great  Britain  is  a  robber  ;  she  takes  our 
cloak."  And  what  say  administration  ?  "  Let  her  take  our  coat  also." 
France  and  Great  Britain  require  you  to  relinquish  a  part  of  your  com- 
merce, and  you  yield  it  entirely.  Sir,  this  conduct  may  be  the  way  to 
dignity  and  honor  in  another  world,  but  it  will  never  secure  safety  and 
independence  in  this. 


JOHN  RANDOLPH  (1 7734833) 

ROANOKE^S  FIERY  SON 


A  VERITABLE ''  Son  of  Satan  "  was  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke, 
a  firebrand  upon  the  floor  of  Congress,  which  few  could  handle 
"^  without  being  burned.  "He  was  like  an  Ishmaelite,"  says 
Garland,  *'  his  hand  against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against 
him."  His  native  skill  in  oratory,  his  ready  and  often  stinging 
wit,  his  mastery  of  the  weapons  of  sarcasm  and  invective,  rendered 
him  ever  a  formidable  opponent  in  debate.  He  voted  against  the 
Missouri  Compromise  bill  of  1820,  because  it  placed  a  northern  limit 
to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  he  stigmatized  the  Northern  members 
who  voted  for  it  as  "  doughfaces,"  a  term  of  contumely  which  came 
afterward  into  general  use.  In  1826  he  grossly  insulted  Henry  Clay, 
speaking  of  him  as  a  '•'  combination  of  the  Puritan  with  the  blackleg," 
and  using  other  insulting  language.  Clay  challenged  him,  a  duel 
was  fought.  Clay  fired  without  effect,  and  Randolph  then  fired  into 
the  air.  Born  before  the  Revolution,  he  entered  Congress  in  1799, 
and  continued  a  member  for  nearly  thirty  years.  Jackson  appointed 
him  minister  to  Russia  in  1830,  but  in  1832  we  find  him  a  bitter 
opponent  of  Jackson,  on  account  of  his  proclamation  against  the  South 
Carolina  nullifiers.  He  called  this  "  the  ferocious  and  bloodthirsty 
proclamation  of  our  Djezzar  Pacha."  He  died  the  following  year. 
His  will  gave  freedom  to  his  three  hundred  slaves. 

THE  TARIFF  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION 
[The  tariff  of  i8i6  was  supported  by  many  Southerners  and  opposed  by  many 
of  the  merchants  of  New  England.  But  by  1824  manufacture  had  grown  greatly  in 
New  England  and  protection  was  demanded,  while  the  South  wished  for  free  trade  as 
best  suited  to  its  cotton  and  farming  industries.  Randolph  was,  in  consequence, 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  advance  in  rates  in  the  new  tariff  bill,  and  handled  the  subject 
in  his  most  strenuous  fashion.  In  a  letter  in  1818  he  had  said,  "  When  I  speak  of 
66 


1 


JOHN  RANDOLPH  67 

my  country  I  mean  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia,"  and  his  sentiments  about  the 
Union  accorded  with  this  remark,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  intemperate  language  of  our 
extract  from  his  speech  of  April  15,  1824.] 

I  am  very  glad,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  old  Massachusetts  Bay  and  the 
province  of  Maine  and  Sagadahock,  by  whom  we  stood  in  the  days  of 
the  Revolution,  now  stand  by  the  South,  and  will  not  aid  in  fixing  on  us 
this  system  of  taxation,  compared  with  which  the  taxation  of  Mr.  Gren- 
ville  and  lyord  North  was  as  nothing.  I  speak  with  knowledge  of  what  I 
say,  when  I  declare  that  this  bill  is  an  attempt  to  reduce  the  country  south 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and  east  of  the  Alleghany  mountains,  to  a 
state  of  worse  than  colonial  bondage  ;  a  state  to  which  the  domination  of 
Great  Britain  was,  in  my  judgment,  far  preferable ;  and  I  trust  I  shall 
always  have  the  fearless  integrity  to  utter  any  political  sentiment  which 
the  head  sanctions  and  the  heart  ratifies  ;  for  the  British  Parliament  never 
would  have  dared  to  lay  such  duties  on  our  imports,  or  their  exports  to 
to  us,  either  "  at  home"  or  here,  as  is  now  proposed  to  be  laid  upon  the 
imports  from  abroad.  At  that  time  we  had  the  command  of  the  market 
of  the  vast  dominions  then  subject,  and  we  should  have  had  those  which 
have  since  been  subjected  to  the  British  empire  ;  we  enjoyed  a  free  trade 
eminently  superior  to  anything  we  can  enjoy  if  this  bill  shall  go  into 
operation .  It  is  a  sacrifice  of  the  interests  of  a  part  of  this  nation  to  the 
ideal  benefit  of  the  rest.  It  marks  us  out  as  the  victims  of  a  worse  than 
Egyptian  bondage.  It  is  a  barter  of  so  much  of  our  rights,  of  so  much 
of  the  fruits  of  our  labor,  for  political  power  to  be  transferred  to  other 
hands.  It  ought  to  be  met,  and  I  trust  it  will  be  met,  in  the  southern 
country  as  was  the  Stamp  Act,  and  all  those  measures  which  I  will  not 
detain  the  House  by  recapitulating,  which  succeeded  the  Stamp  Act,  and 
produced  the  final  breach  with  the  mother  country,  which  it  took  about  ten 
years  to  bring  about ;  as  I  trust,  in  my  conscience,  it  will  not  take  as  long 
to  bring  about  similar  results  from  this  measure,  should  it  become  a  law. 

All  policy  is  very  suspicious,  says  an  eminent  statesman,  that  sacri- 
fices the  interest  of  any  part  of  a  community  to  the  ideal  good  of  the 
whole  ;  and  those  go  /ernments  only  are  tolerable  where,  by  the  necessary 
construction  of  the  political  machine,  the  interests  of  all  the  parts  are 
obliged  to  be  protected  by  it.  Here  is  a  district  of  country  extending 
from  the  Patapsco  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  the  Alleghany  to  the 
Atlantic  ;  a  district  which,  taking  in  all  that  part  .of  Maryland  lying  south 
of  the  Patapsco  and  east  of  Elk  river,  raises  five  sixths  of  all  the  exports 
of  this  country  that  are  of  home  growth.  I  have  in  my  hand  the  official 
statements  which  prove  it — but  which  I  will  not  weary  the  Houes  by 
reading — in  all  this  country,  yes,  sir,  and  I  bless  God  for  it ;  for  with  all 


68  JOHN  RANDOLPH 


* 


the  fantastical  and  preposterous  theories  about  the  rights  of  man  (the 
theories,  not  the  rights  themselves,  I  speak  of),  there  is  nothing  but  power 
that  can  restrain  power.     I  bless  God  that,  in  this  insulted,  oppressed, 
and  outraged  region,  we  are,  as  to  our  counsels  in  regard  to  this  measure, 
but  as  one  man  ;  that  there  exists  on  the  subject  but  one  feeling  and  one 
interest.     We  are  proscribed  and  put  to  the  bar ;  and  if  we  do  not  feel, 
and,  feeling,  do  not  act,  we  are  bastards  to  those  fathers  who  achieved  the 
revolution ;  then  shall  we   deserve  to  make  our  bricks  without  straw. 
There  is  no  case  on  record  in  which  a  proposition  like  this,  suddenly- 
changing  the  whole  frame  of  a  country's  polity,  tearing  asunder  every 
ligature  of  the  body  politic,  was  ever  carried  by  a  lean  majority  of  two  or 
three  votes,  unless  it  be  the  usurpation  of  the  septennial  act,  which  passed 
the  British  Parliament  by,  I  think,  the  majority  of  one  vote,  the  same 
that  laid  the  tax  on  cotton  bagging.     I  do.  not  stop  here,  sir,  to  argue 
about  the  constitutionality  of  this  bill ;  I  consider  the  Constitution  a  dead 
letter.     I  consider  it  to  consist  at  this  time  of  the  power  of  the  General 
Government  and  the  power  of  the  States  ;  that  is  the  Constitution .     You 
may  entrench  yourself  in  parchment  to  the  teeth,  says  Lord  Chatham,  the 
sword  will  find  its  way  to  the  vitals  of  the  Constitution.     I  have  no  faith 
in  parchment,  sir  ;  I  have  no  faith  in  the  "  abracadabra  "  of  the  Constitu- 
tion ;  I  have  faith  in  the  power  of  that  commonwealth  of  which  I  am  an 
unworthy  son  ;  in  the  power  of  those  Carolinas,  and  of  that  Georgia,  in 
her  ancient  and  utmost  extent,  to  the  Mississippi,  which  went  with  us 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  in  the  war  of  our  independence. 
I  have  said  that  I  shall  not  stop  to  discuss  the  constitutionality  of  this 
question,  for  that  reason  and  for  a  better  ;  that  there  never  was  a  consti- 
tution under  the  sun  in  which,  by  an  unwise  exercise  of  the  powers  of  the 
government,  the  people  may  not  be  driven  to  the  extremity  of  resistance 
by  force.     '*  For  it  is  not,  perhaps,  so  much  by  the  assumption  of  unlaw- 
ful powers  as  by  the  unwise  or  unwarrantable  use  of  those  which  are  most 
legal,  that  governments  oppose  their  true  end  and  object;  for  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  tyranny  as  well  as  usurpation."     If  under  a  power  to 
regulate  trade  you  prevent  exportation  ;  if,  with  the  most  approved  spring 
lancets,  you  draw  the  last  drop  of  blood  from  our  veins  ;  if,  secundu^n 
arieniy  you  draw  the  last  shilling  from  our  pockets,  what  are  the  checks 
of  the  Constitution  to  us  ?     A  fig  for  the  Constitution  !     When  the  scor- 
pion's sting  is  probing  us  to  the  quick,  shall  we  stop  to  chop  logic  ? 
Shall  we  get  some  learned  and  cunning  clerk  to  say  whether  the  power  to 
do  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  Constitution,  and  then  if  he,  from  w^hatever 
motive,  shall  maintain  the  afiirmative,  like  the  animal  whose  fleece  forms 
so  material  a  portion  of  this  bill,  quietly  lie  down  and  be  shorn  ?  .    . 


I 


|,    J;^w  9^^^^l^  In  American  History  commanded  more  attention 
'    SwtstS'and'fc  "'"^^  "^"^  "  '"^'"^^^'^  ^^^^-^^^ 


WILLIAM  WIRT  (J 7724 834) 

THE  DEFENDER  OF  BLENNERHASSETT 


SARON  BURR,  a  skillful  political  leader  of  the  early  years  of  the 
American  Union,  whose  shrewdness  had  made  him  Vice-Presi- 
dent during  Jefferson's  first  term,  afterwards  ruined  his  reputa- 
tion by  his  intrigues,  and  won  the  detestation  of  the  public  by  killing 
Alexander  Hamilton  in  a  duel.  His  political  career  in  the  East 
ended,  he  devised  new  schemes  for  the  West,  organizing  an  expedi- 
tion whose  supposed  purpose  was  to  wrest  Texas  from  Mexico  and 
form  an  independent  nation,  with  New  Orleans  for  its  capital  and 
himself  as  the  arbiter  of  its  diestinies.  Whatever  may  have  been  his 
actual  design,  the  project  failed,  and  he  was  arrested  on  a  charge  of 
high  treason.  Put  on  trial  in  Richmond  for  this  offence,  lack  of 
evidence  led  to  his  acquittal,  though  there  remained  a  strong  popular 
conviction  of  his  guilt. 

In  this  celebrated  trial  the  highest  legal  talent  of  the  land  was 
enlisted,  alike  in  the  prosecution  and  the  defence.  Among  those 
engaged  on  the  side  of  the  Government  was  William  Wirt,  a  lawyer 
of  distinguished  ability  and  an  orator  of  the  finest  powers.  The 
learning  and  eloquence  displayed  by  him  in  the  trial  made  his  repu- 
tation as  an  orator,  his  arguments  were  read  with  delight,  and  his 
name  was  enrolled  among  those  of  America's  ablest  men.  Of  the 
speeches  made  at  this  trial,  that  of  Wirt  alone  survives  as  a  brilliant 
example  of  eloquence. 

Mr.  Wirt  had  long  been  famous  as  a  lawyer;  his  reputation 
increased  after  this  famous  trial  until,  in  1817,  he  was  made 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States.  This  position  he  held  dur- 
ing the  eight  years  of  Monroe's  administration,  and  was  reappointed 
in  1825  by  President  Adams,  who  had  been  his  associate  in  Monroe's 


70  WILLIAM  WIRT 

Cabinet.  In  1832  he  was  nominated  for  the  Presidency  by  the  Anti- 
Mason  party,  but  carried  only  one  State.  He  won  reputation  as  a 
writer  also ;  especially  by  his  ''  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,"  which  many 
consider  a  piece  of  biographical  writing  of  unrivalled  merit. 

BURR  AND  BLENNERHASSETT 

[In  Wirt's  arraignment  of  Burr,  the  most  famous  passage  is  his  word  picture  of 
the  earthly  paradise  of  Blennerhassett's  dwelling,  on  an  island  in  the  Ohio,  into  which 
Burr  entered  as  the  serpent  of  temptation.  Though  a  highly  exaggerated  picture,  it 
is  a  most  engaging  one.  The  counsel  for  the  defendant  had  advanced  the  theory  that 
Blennerhassett  was  the  originator  of  the  scheme  and  Burr  a  victim  of  his  treasonable 
designs.  Wirt  effectually  disposed  of  this  theory  in  the  following  burst  of  eloquence.] 

Will  any  man  say  that  Blennerhassett  was  the  principal,  and  Burr  but 
an  accessory  ?  Who  will  believe  that  Burr,  the  author  and  projector  of 
the  plot,  who  raised  the  forces,  who  enlisted  the  men,  and  who  procured 
the  funds  for  carrying  it  into  execution,  was  made  a  cat's-paw  of?  Will 
any  man  believe  that  Burr,  who  is  a  soldier,  bold,  ardent,  restless  and 
aspiring,  the  great  actor  whose  brain  conceived,  and  whose  hand  brought 
the  plot  into  operation,  that  he  should  sink  down  into  an  accessory,  and 
that  Blennerhassett  should  be  elevated  into  a  principal  ?  He  would  startle 
at  once  at  the  thought.  Aaron  Burr,  the  contriver  of  the  whole  conspir- , 
acy,  to  every  body  concerned  in  it  was  as  the  sun  to  the  planets  which 
surround  him.  Did  he  not  bind  them  in  their  respective  orbits  and  give 
them  their  light,  their  heat  and  their  motion  ?  Yet  he  is  to  be  considered 
an  accessory,  and  Blennerhassett  is  to  be  considered  the  principal ! 

I^et  us  put  the  case  between  Burr  and  Blennerhassett.  I^et  us  com- 
pare the  two  men  and  settle  this  question  of  precedence  between  them.  It 
may  save  a  good  deal  of  troublesome  ceremony  hereafter. 

Who  Aaron  Burr  is,  we  have  seen  in  part  already.     I  will  add  that, 
beginning  his  operations  in  New  York,  he  associates  with  him  men  whose 
wealth  is  to  supply  the  necessary  funds.     Possessed  of  the  mainspring,  his 
personal  labor  contrives  all  the  machinery.     Pervading  the  continent  from 
New  York  to  New  Orleans,  he  draws  into  his  plan,  by  every  allurement 
which  he  can  contrive,  men  of  all  ranks  and  descriptions.     To  youthful 
ardor  he  presents  danger  and  glory  ;    to  ambition,  rank  and   titles  and 
honors  ;    to  avarice,  the  mines  of  Mexico.     To  each  person  whom  he  ad-^ 
dresses  he  presents  the  object  adapted  to  his  taste.     His  recruiting  ofl5certH 
are  appointed.     Men  are  engaged  throughout  the  continent.     Civil  life  is^ 
indeed  quiet  upon  its  surface,  but  in  its  bosom  this  man  has  contrived 
deposit  the  materials  which,  with  the  slightest  touch  of  his  match,  produo 
an  explosion  to  shake  the  continent.     All  this  his  restless  ambition  h 


WILLIAM  WIRT  71 

contrived  ;  and  in  the  autumn  of  1 806  he  goes  forth  for  the  last  time  to 
apply  this  match.     On  this  occasion  he  meets  with  Blennerhassett. 

Who  is  Blennerhassett  ?  A  native  of  Ireland,  a  man  of  letters,  who 
fled  from  the  storms  of  his  own  country  to  find  quiet  in  ours.  His  history 
shows  that  war  is  not  the  natural  element  of  his  mind.  If  it  had  been,  he 
never  would  have  exchanged  Ireland  for  America.  So  far  is  an  army  from 
furnishing  the  society  natural  and  proper  to  Mr.  Blennerhassett 's  char- 
acter, that  on  his  arrival  in  America  he  retired  even  from  the  population 
of  the  Atlantic  States,  and  sought  quiet  and  solitude  in  the  bosom  of  our 
western  forests.  But  he  carried  with  him  taste  and  science  and  wealth ; 
and  lo,  the  desert  smiled  !  Possessing  himself  of  a  beautiful  island  in  the 
Ohio,  he  rears  upon  it  a  palace,  and  decorates  it  with  every  romantic  em- 
bellishment of  fancy.  A  shrubbery  that  Shenstone  might  have  envied 
blooms  around  him.  Music  that  might  have  charmed  Calypso  and  her 
nymphs  is  his.  An  extensive  library  spreads  its  treasures  before  him.  A 
philosophical  apparatus  offers  to  him  all  the  secrets  and  mysteries  of  nature. 
Peace,  tranquillity  and  innocence  shed  their  mingled  delights  around  him. 
And,  to  crown  the  enchantment  of  the  scene,  a  wife,  who  is  said  to  be 
lovely  even  beyond  her  sex,  and  graced  with  every  accomplishment  that 
can  render  it  irresistible,  had  blessed  him  with  her  love,  and  made  him  the 
father  of  several  children.  The  evidence  would  convince  you  that  this  is 
but  a  faint  picture  of  the  real  life. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  peace,  this  innocent  simplicity  and  this  tran- 
quillity, this  feast  of  the  mind,  this  pure  banquet  of  the  heart,  the  destroyer 
comes  ;  he  comes  to  change  this  paradise  into  a  hell.  Yet  the  flowers  do 
not  wither  at  his  approach.  No  monitory  shuddering  through  the  bosom 
of  their  unfortunate  possessor  warns  him  of  the  ruin  that  is  coming  upon 
him.  A  stranger  presents  himself.  Introduced  to  their  civilities  by  the 
high  rank  which  he  had  lately  held  in  his  country,  he  soon  finds  his  way 
to  their  hearts  by  the  dignity  and  elegance  of  his  demeanor,  the  light  and 
beauty  of  his  conversation,  and  the  seductive  and  fascinating  power  of 
his  address. 

The  conquest  was  not  difficult.  Innocence  is  ever  simple  and  credu- 
lous. Conscious  of  no  design  itself,  it  suspects  none  in  others.  It  wearS' 
no  guard  before  its  breast.  Every  door,  and  portal,  and  avenue  of  the 
heart  is  thrown  open,  and  all  who  choose  it  enter.  Such  was  the  state  of 
Eden  when  the  serpent  entered  its  bowers.  The  prisoner,  in  a  more  en- 
gaging form,  winding  himself  into  the  open  and  unpracticed  heart  of  the 
unfortunate  Blennerhassett,  found  but  little  difficulty  in  changing  the 
native  character  of  that  heart  and  the  objects  of  its  affection.  By  degrees 
he  infuses  into  it  the  poison  of  his  own  ambition.     He  breathes  into  it  the 


72  WILLIAM  WIRT 

fire  of  his  own  courage  ;  a  daring  and  desperate  thirst  for  glory  ;  an  ardor 
panting  for  great  enterprises,  for  all  the  storm  and  bustle  and  hurricane 
of  life. 

In  a  short  time  the  whole  man  is  changed,  and  every  object  of  his 
former  delight  is  relinquished.  No  more  he  enjoys  the  tranquil  scene; 
it  has  become  flat  and  insipid  to  his  taste.  His  books  are  abandoned. 
His  retort  and  crucible  are  thrown  aside.  His  shrubbery  blooms  and 
breathes  its  fragrance  upon  the  air  in  vain  ;  he  likes  it  not.  His  ear  no 
longer  drinks  the  rich  melody  of  music  ;  it  longs  for  the  trumpet's  clangor 
and  the  cannon's  roar.  Even  the  prattle  of  his  babes,  once  so  sweet,  no 
longer  affects  him  ;  and  the  angel  smile  of  his  wife,  which  hitherto  touched 
his  bosom  with  ecstasy  so  unspeakable,  is  now  unseen  and  unfelt.  Greater 
objects  have  taken  possession  of  his  soul.  His  imagination  has  been 
dazzled  by  visions  of  diadems,  of  stars,  and  garters,  and  titles  of  nobility. 
He  has  been  taught  to  burn  with  restless  emulation  at  the  names  of  great 
heroes  and  conquerors.  His  enchanted  island  is  destined  soon  to  relapse 
into  a  wilderness  ;  and  in  a  few  months  we  find  the  beautiful  and  tender 
partner  of  his  bosom,  whom  he  lately  ''permitted  not  the  winds  of" 
summer  ''to  visit  too  roughly,"  we  find  her  shivering  at  midnight  on  the 
wintry  banks  of  the  Ohio,  and  mingling  her  tears  with  the  torrents  that 
froze  as  they  fell. 

Yet  this  unfortunate  man,  thus  deluded  from  his  interest  and  his 
happiness,  thus  seduced  from  the  paths  of  innocence  and  peace,  thus  con- 
founded in  the  toils  that  were  deliberately  spread  for  him,  and  overwhelmed 
by  the  mastering  spirit  and  genius  of  another — this  man,  thus  ruined  and 
undone,  and  made  to  play  a  subordinate  part  in  this  grand  drama  of  guilt 
and  treason,  this  man  is  to  be  called  the  principal  offender  ;  while  he,  by 
whom  he  was  thus  plunged  in  misery,  is  comparatively  innocent,  a  mere 
accessory  !  Is  this  reason  ?  Is  it  law  ?  Is  it  humanity  ?  Sir,  neither  the 
human  heart  nor  the  human  understanding  will  bear  a  perversion  so  mon- 
strous and  absurd  !  so  shocking  to  the  soul !  so  revolting  to  reason  !  Let 
Aaron  Burr,  then,  not  shrink  from  the  high  destination  which  he  has 
courted,  and  having  already  ruined  Blennerhassett  in  fortune,  character 
and  happiness  for  ever,  let  him  not  attempt  to  finish  the  tragedy  by 
thrusting  that  ill-fated  man  between  himself  and  punishment. 


HENRY  CLAY  (J 777- J 852) 

THE  PEOPLE^S  FAVORITE 


I  T  In  those  days  of  tariff  and  slavery  agitation,  when  all  seemed  at 
I  I  I  risk  in  the  great  Republic  of  the  West,  the  noble  figure  of  Henry 
Clay  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  the  patriots  who  fought 
against  the  forces  of  disunion  ;  not  towering,  like  Webster,  in  heroic 
defiance  of  the  foes  of  the  Union,  but  healing  its  wounds,  allaying  the 
violence  of  the  combat,  and  winning  by  mild  measures  what  could 
not  be  attained  by  violence.  Where  other  men  made  themselves 
admired.  Clay  made  himself  loved.  His  gentleness  and  courtesy  won 
him  an  abiding  place  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  He  was 
everywhere  the  favorite  of  the  people.  "  Who  ever,"  says  Parton, 
"heard  such  cheers,  so  hearty,  distinct  and  ringing,  as  those  which 
his  name  evoked  ?  Men  shed  tears  at  his  defeat  and  women  went  to 
bed  sick  from  pure  sympathy  with  his  disappointment.  He  could  not 
travel  during  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  life,  he  only  made  progresses; 
the  committee  of  one  State  passing  him  on  to  the  committee  of 
another,  the  hurrahs  of  one  town  dying  away  as  those  of  the  next 
caught  his  ear." 

How  did  this  man  win  such  high  esteem  ?  He  began  life  hum- 
bly enough,  working  on  a  Virginia  farm  to  aid  his  widowed  mother, 
and  riding  barefoot  to  mill  for  the  family  flour — whence  his  familiar 
title,  "  The  Mill-boy  of  the  Slashes."  A  clerk  in  Richmond  at  four- 
teen, he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  twenty,  and  by  signal  fortune 
became  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  before  reaching  the 
constitutional  limit  of  thirty  years  of  age.  His  rapid  progress  was 
due  to  his  fine  native  powers  of  oratory,  his  skill  in  debate,  and  his 
controlling  influence  in  political  measures.  Endowed  by  nature  with 
a  voice  of  wonderful  compass  and  rich  harmony,  fluent  in  delivery 

73 


74  HENRY  CLAY 

and  graceful  in  gesture,  his  reputation  soon  spread  from  end  to  end  of 
the  land.  "  Take  him  for  all  in  all,'^  says  Parton,  "  we  must  regard 
him  as  the  first  of  American  orators ;  but  posterity  will  not  assign . 
him  that  high  rank,  for  posterity  will  not  hear  that  matchless  voice, 
will  not  see  those  large  gestures,  those  striking  attitudes,  that  grand 
manner,  which  gave  to  second-rate  composition  first-rate  effect/' 
While  excelled  as  a  reasoner  by  Webster,  and  surpassed  in  fiery  earn- 
estness by  Calhoun,  none  were  his  equals  in  grace  of  oratory  and 
charm  of  manner.  His  speeches  do  not  all  read  well.  Many  dull 
passages  are  met  with.  They  lack  that  splendor  of  delivery  which 
gave  them  such  winning  effect.  Yet  they  present,  even  on  the 
printed  page,  hundreds  of  admirable  passages,  and  will  long  be 
perused  with  pleasure  and  profit  by  students  and  lovers  of  oratory. 

In  the  several  critical  periods  of  American  history  which  came 
while  Clay  w^as  in  Congress,  his  broad  spirit  of  conciliation  went  far 
to  tide  the  Union  over  the  danger  points  in  its  career.  Three  great 
compromise  measures  were  engineered  by  him — the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise of  1820,  the  Tariff  Compromise  of  .1833,  and  the  Territorial 
Compromise  of  1850,  the  latter  two  being  initiated  and  carried 
through  by  him.  By  these  noble  services  he  smoothed  the  waves  of 
discontent  and  stayed  the  spirit  of  disunion  until  death  removed  him 
from  the  scene.  His  own  words  form  the  true  motto  of  his  character : 
"I  would  rather  be  right  than  be  President.'* 

THE  AMERICAN  SYSTEM 

[Clay,  who  had  argued  strongly  in  favor  of  a  protective  tariff  during  the  spirited 
discussion  in  1824,  took  different  ground  in  1832  and  1833,  during  a  period  of  excite- 
ment in  the  South  against  high  tariff  that  yielded  in  South  Carolina  an  attempt  to 
nullify  the  United  States  tariff  laws.  Clay,  in  a  speech  in  1832,  showed  vividly  the 
prosperity  which  had  arisen  between  1824  and  the  latter  date,  due,  as  he  believed,  to 
the  protective  tariff.  But  in  the  following  year  he  introduced,  in  order  to  allay  the 
irritation,  a  bill  for  a  gradual  reduction  of  the  tariff  during  the  ten  succeeding 
years.     This  was  the  compromise  above  spoken  of.] 

Eight  years  ago  it  was  my  painful  duty  to  present  to  the  House  of 
Congress  an  unexaggerated  picture  of  the  general  distress  pervading  the 
whole  land.  We  must  all  yet  remember  some  of  its  frightful  features. 
We  all  know  that  the  people  were  then  oppressed  and  borne  down  by  an 
enormous  load  of  debt ;  that  the  value  of  property  was  at  the  lowest  point 
of  depression  ;  that  ruinous  sales  and  sacrifices  were  everywhere  made  of 
real  estate  ;  that  stop-laws  and  relief-laws  and  paper-money  were  adopted 


HENRY  CLAY  75 

to  save  the  people  from  impending  destruction  ;  that  a  deficit  in  the  public 
revenue  existed  which  compelled  the  Government  to  seize  upon,  and 
divert  from  its  legitimate  object,  the  appropriation  to  the  sinking  fund  to 
redeem  the  national  debt ;  and  that  our  commerce  and  navigation  were 
threatened  with  a  complete  paralysis.  In  short,  sir,  if  I  were  to  select 
any  term  of  seven  years  since  the  adoption  of  the  present  Constitution 
which  exhibited  a  scene  of  the  most  wide-spread  dismay  and  desolation,  it 
would  be  exactly  that  term  of  seven  years  which  immediately  preceded  the 
establishment  of  the  tariff  of  1824. 

I  have  now  to  perform  the  more  pleasing  task  of  exhibiting  an  imper- 
fect sketch  of  the  existing  state  of  the  unparalleled  prosperity  of  the 
country.  On  a  general  survey,  we  behold  cultivation  extended,  the  arts 
flourishing,  the  face  of  the  country  improved,  our  people  fully  and  profit- 
ably employed,  and  the  public  countenance  exhibiting  tranquillity,  con- 
tentment and  happiness.  And,  if  we  descend  into  particulars,  we  have 
the  agreeable  contemplation  of  a  people  out  of  debt ;  land  rising  slowly  in 
value,  but  in  a  secure  and  salutary  degree  ;  a  ready,  though  not  extrava- 
gant, market  for  all  the  surplus  productions  of  our  industry  ;  innumerable 
flocks  and  herds  browsing  and  gamboling  on  ten  thousand  hills  and 
plains,  covered  with  rich  and  verdant  grasses ;  our  cities  expanded,  and 
whole  villages  springing  up,  as  it  were,  by  enchantment ;  our  exports  and 
imports  increased  and  increasing ;  our  tonnage,  foreign  and  coastwise, 
swelling  and  fully  occupied ;  the  rivers  of  our  interior  animated  by  the 
perpetual  thunder  and  lightning  of  countless  steamboats ;  the  currency 
sound  and  abundant ;  the  public  debt  of  two  wars  nearly  redeemed  ;  and, 
to  crown  all,  the  public  treasury  overflowing,  embarrassing  Congress,  not 
to  find  subjects  of  taxation,  but  to  select  the  objects  which  shall  be 
liberated  from  the  impost.  If  the  term  of  seven  years  were  to  be  selected 
of  the  greatest  prosperity  which  this  people  have  enjoyed  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  their  present  Constitution,  it  would  be  exactly  that  period  of 
seven  years  which  immediately  followed  the  passage  of  the  tariff  of  1824. 

This  transformation  of  the  condition  of  the  country  from  gloom  and 
distress  to  brightness  and  prosperity  has  been  mainly  the  work  of 
American  legislation,  fostering  American  industry  ;  instead  of  allowing  it 
to  be  controlled  by  foreign  legislation,  cherishing  foreign  industry.  The 
foes  of  the  American  system,  in  1824,  with  great  boldness  and  confidence, 
predicted :  ist.  The  ruin  of  the  public  revenue  and  the  creation  of  a 
necessity  to  resort  to  direct  taxation.  The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina 
(Mr.  Hayne),  I  believe,  thought  that  the  tariff  of  1824  would  operate  a 
reduction  of  revenue  to  the  large  amount  of  eight  millions  of  dollars. 
2nd.  The  destruction  of  our  navigation.    3rd.  The  desolation  of  commercial 


76  HENRY  CLAY 

cities.  And  4th.  The  augmentation  of  the  price  of  objects  of  con- 
sumption, and  further  decline  in  that  of  the  articles  of  our  exports. 
Every  prediction  which  they  made  has  failed — utterly  failed.  Instead  of 
the  ruin  of  the  public  revenue,  with  which  they  then  sought  to  deter  us 
from  the  adoption  of  the  American  system,  we  are  now  threatened  with 
its  subversion  by  the  vast  amount  of  the  public  revenue  produced  by 
that  system. 

The  danger  to  our  Union  does  not  lie  on  the  side  of  persistence  in  the 
American  system,  but  on  that  of  its  abandonment.  If,  as  I  have  supposed 
and  believed,  the  inhabitants  of  all  north  and  east  of  the  James  River,  and 
all  west  of  the  mountains,  including  I^ouisiana,  are  deeply  interested  in 
the  preservation  of  that  system,  would  they  be  reconciled  to  its  over- 
throw ?  Can  it  be  expected  that  two-thirds,  if  not  three-fourths,  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  would  consent  to  the  destruction  o'f  a 
policy  believed  to  be  indispensably  necessary  to  their  prosperity — when, 
too,  this  sacrifice  is  made  at  the  instance  of  a  single  interest  which  they 
verily  believe  will  not  be  promoted  by  it  ?  In  estimating  the  degree  of 
peril  which  may  be  incident  to  two  opposite  courses  of  human  policy,  the 
statesman  would  be  shortsighted  who  should  content  himself  with  viewing 
only  the  evils,  real  or  imaginary,  which  belong  to  that  course  which  is  in 
practical  operation.  He  should  lift  himself  up  to  the  contemplation  of 
those  greater  and  more  certain  dangers  which  might  inevitably  attend  the 
adoption  of  the  alternative  course.  What  would  be  the  condition  of  this 
Union  if  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  those  mammoth  members  of  our 
confederacy,  were  firmly  persuaded  that  their  industry  was  paralyzed  and 
their  prosperity  blighted  by  the  enforcement  of  the  British  Colonial  sys- 
tem, under  the  delusive  name  of  free  trade  ?  They  are  now  tranquil  and 
happy  and  contented,  conscious  of  their  welfare,  and  feeling  a  salutary 
and  rapid  circulation  of  the  products  of  home  manufactures  and  home 
industry  throughout  all  their  great  arteries.  But  let  that  be  checked  ;  let 
them  feel  that  a  foreign  system  is  to  predominate,  and  the  sources  of  their 
subsistence  and  comfort  dried  up  ;  let  New  England  and  the  West  and  the 
Middle  States  all  feel  that  hey  too  are  the  victims  of  a  mistaken  policy, 
and  let  these  vast  portions  of  our  country  despair  of  any  favorable  change, 
and  then,  indeed,    might   we   tremble  for  the  continuance  and  safety  of 

this  Union ! 

THE  HORRORS  OF  CIVIL  WAR 
[Of  Henry  Clay's  contributions  to  the  stability  of  the  Union,  one  of  the  greatest 
was  the  Compromise  of  1850,  which  he  erected  as  a  dam  against  the  flood  of  hostile 
sentiment  which  was  then  swelling  in  North  and  South  alike.  If  no  check  were  put 
to  it,  if  it  should  lead  to  the  fatal  ultimatum  of  secession,  a  war  of  frightful  dimen- 
sions would  be,  in  his  opinion,  an  inevitable  consequence.     He  was  justified  in  his 


I 


I 


DANIEL  WEBSTER 


HENRY  CLAY  ORATOR  AND  STATESMAN 

Henry  Clay's  rank  as  an  orator  has  increased  with  time.  His 
position  was  attained  by  painstal<ing:  effort.  Clay,  Webster  and 
Calhoun  are  ranked  together  as  the  greatest  American  Orators. 


HENRY  CLAY  ^       ^  77 

I 
prediction ;  the  war  came,  and  while  it  lasted  its  horrors  were  as  lurid  as  he  had 
painted  them.  Fortunately  its  duration  and  its  consequences  were  widely  different 
from  his  depressing  prediction.  As  for  himself,  his  wish  was  granted..  He  did  not 
survive  to  witness  the  "heart-rending  spectacle."  We  give  this  prediction  from  his 
speech  in  the  Senate  on  February  6,  1850.] 

Mr.  President,  I  am  directly  opposed  to  any  purpose  of  secession,  of 
separation.  I  am  for  staying  within  the  Union,  and  defying  any  portion 
of  this  Union  to  expel  or  drive  me  out  of  the  Union.  I  am  for  staying 
and  fighting  for  my  rights — if  necessary,  with  the  sword-^ within  the 
bounds  and  under  the  safeguard  of  the  Union.  I  am  for  vindicating  these 
rights,  but  not  by  being  driven  out  of  the  Union  rashly  and  unceremoni- 
ously by  any  portion  of  this  confederacy.  Here  I  am  within  it,  and  here 
I  mean  to  stand  and  die — as  far  as  my  individual  purposes  or  wishes  can 
go  ;  within  it  to  protect  myself,  and  to  defy  all  power  upon  earth  to  expel 
me  or  drive  me  from  the  situation  in  which  I  am  placed.  Will  there  not 
be  more  safety  in  fighting  within  the  Union  than  without  it  ? 

Suppose  your  rights  to  be  violated  ;  suppose  wrongs  to  be  done  you, 
aggressions  to  be  perpetrated  upon  you  ;  cannot  you  better  fight  and  vin- 
dicate them ,  if  you  have  occasion  to  result  to  that  last  necessity  of  the 
sword,  within  the  Union,  and  with  the  sympathies  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
population  of  the  Union  of  these  States  differently  constituted  from  j^ou, 
than  you  can  fight  and  vindicate  your  rights  expelled  from  the  Union, 
and  driven  from  it  without  ceremony  .and  without  authority  ? 

I  said  that  I  thought  that  there  was  no  right  on  the  part  of  one  or 
more  of  the  States  to  secede  from  this  Union.  I  think  that  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  thirteen  States  was  made  not  merely  for  the  generation  which 
then  existed,  but  for  posterity,  undefined,  unlimited,  permanent  and  per- 
petual— for  their  posterity  and  for  every  subsequent  State  which  might 
come  into  the  Union,  binding  themselves  by  that  indissoluble  bond.  It  is 
to  remain  for  that  posterity  now  and  forever.  Like  another  of  the  great 
relations  of  private  life,  it  was  a  marriage  that  no  human  authority  can  dis- 
solve or  divorce  the  parties  from  ;  and  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  refer  to  this 
same  example  in  private  life,  let  us  say  what  man  and  wife  say  to  each 
other  :  '  *  We  have  mutual  faults  ;  nothing  in  the  form  of  human  beings 
can  be  perfect.  lyCt  us  then  be  kind  to  each  other,  forbearing,  conceding ; 
let  us  live  in  happiness  and  peace. ' ' 

Mr.  President,  I  have  said  what  I  solemnly  believe,  that  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Union  and  war  are  identical  and  inseparable ;  that  they  are 
convertible  terms. 

Such  a  war,  too,  as  that  would  be,  following  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union  !     Sir,  we  may  search  the  pages  of  history,  and  none  so  furious,  so 


78  HENRY  CLAY 

bloody,  so  implacable,  so  exterminating,  from  the  wars  of  Greece  down, 
including  those  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England  and  the  revolution  of 
France — none  of  them  raged  with  such  violence,  or  was  ever  conducted 
with  such  bloodshed  and  enormities,  as  will  that  war  which  shall  follow 
that  disastrous  event — if  that  event  ever  happens — of  dissolution . 

And  what  would  be  its  termination  ?  Standing  armies  and  navies,  to 
an  extent  draining  the  revenues  of  each  portion  of  the  dissevered  empire, 
would  be  created  ;  exterminating  wars  would  follow — not  a  war  of  two 
nor  three  years,  but  of  interminable  duration — an  exterminating  war 
would  follow,  until  some  Philip  or  Alexander,  some  Caesar  or  Napoleon, 
would  rise  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot  and  solve  the  problem  of  the  capacity 
of  man  for  self-government,  and  crush  the  liberties  of  both  the  dissevered 
portions  of  this  Union.  Can  you  doubt  it  ?  Look  at  history — consult 
the  pages  of  all  history,  ancient  or  modern  ;  look  at  human  nature  ;  look 
at  the  character  of  the  contest  in  which  you  would  be  engaged  in  the  sup- 
position of  a  war  following  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  such  as  1  have 
suggested  ;  and  I  ask  you  if  it  is  possible  for  you  to  doubt  that  j:he  final 
but  perhaps  distant  termination  of  the  whole  will  be  some  despot  treading 
.  down  the  liberties  of  the  people  ?  that  the  final  result  will  be  the  extinc- 
tion of  this  last  and  glorious  light,  which  is  leading  all  mankind  who  are 
gazing  upon  it  to  cherish  hope  and  anxious  expectatation  that  the  liberty 
which  prevails  here  will  sooner  or  later  be  advanced  throughout  the  civil- 
ized world?  Can  you,  Mr,  President,  lightly  contemplate  the  conse- 
quences ?  Can  you  yield  yourself  to  a  torrent  of  passion,  amidst  dangers 
w^hich  I  have  depicted  in  colors  far  short  of  what  would  be  the  reality,  if 
the  event  should  ever  happen  ?  I  conjure  gentlemen — whether  from  the 
South  or  North — by  all  they  hold  dear  in  this  world,  by  all  their  love  of 
liberty,  by  all  their  veneration  for  their  ancestors,  by  all  their  regard  for 
posterity,  by  all  their  gratitude  to  Him  who  has  bestowed  upon  them  such 
unnumbered  blessings,  by  all  the  duties  which  they  owe  to  mankind  and 
all  the  duties  which  they  owe  to  themselves,  by  all  these  considerations  I 
implore  them  to  pause — solemnly  to  pause — at  the  edge  of  the  precipice, 
before  the  fearful  and  disastrous  leap  is  taken  into  the  yawning  abyss 
below,  which  will  inevitably  lead  to  certain  and  irretrievable  destruction. 

And,  finally,  Mr.  President,  I  implore,  as  the  best  blessing  which 
Heaven  can  bestow  upon  me  on  earth,  that  if  the  direful  and  sad  event 
of  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  shall  happen,  I  may  not  survive  to  behold 
the  sad  and  heart-rending  spectacle. 


I 


J 


ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE  (J 792- J 839) 

THE  CHAMPION  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 


I 


mN  1830  a  resolution,  innocent  in  appearance  but  momentous  in 
consequences,  was  introduced  into  the  United  States  Senate  by 
Mr.  Foot,  a  member  of  that  body.  It  related  to  the  sale  of 
the  public  lands,  and  had  no  visible  bearing  on  other  questions; 
yet  it  gave  rise  to  a  controversy  in  which  the  doctrine  of  the  right 
of  a  State  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  w^as  brought  prominently 
forward,  and  which  drew  forth  from  Daniel  Webster  his  noblest  and 
most  famous  speech.  His  opponent  was  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  of  South 
Carolina,  the  leading  advocate  of  the  principle  of  nullification  and  the 
right  of  secession. 

Hayne  was  descended  from  a  patriotic  South  Carolina  family  of 
revolutionary  fame.  He  himself  served  with  gallantry  at  Fort 
Moultrie  in  1812,  and  there  first  became  known  as  an  able  orator,  in 
an  address  on  the  anniversary  of  independence,  in  which  he  evinced 
earnestness  of  patriotism,  purity  of  style  and  depth  of  pathos.  He 
was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  1822  and  remained  a  mem- 
ber for  ten  years,  resigning  in  1832  to  accept  the  governorship  of 
South  Corolina. 

Hayne  was  a  vigorous  opponent  of  the  policy  of  protection,  and, 
in  his  celebrated  speeches  on  Mr.  Foot's  resolution,  advanced  a  thinly- 
veiled  doctrine  of  disunion.  He  became  an  open  supporter  of  this 
doctrine  in  1832,  in  the  convention  called  in  South  Carolina  to  nullify 
the  tariff  laws  of  the  United  States.  The  Ordinance  of  Nullification 
was  adopted  on  November  24,  1832.  On  December  10th,  President 
Jackson  issued  a  proclamation  vigorously  denouncing  it.  Governor 
Hayne  issued  a  counter-proclamation,  in  which  he  showed  his  inten- 
tion to  resist  the  General  Government,  even  at  the  bayonet's  point. 

79 


80  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE 

Twelve  thousand  volunteers  were  called  out,  and  preparations  made 
for  the  defence  of  the  State,  but  Jackson's  energetic  measures  quickly- 
brought  them  to  an  end.  In  the  following  March  the  passage  of 
Clay's  Compromise  Tariff  Act  removed  the  subject  of  dispute  ;  and  in 
a  subsequent  convention,  over  which  Governor  Hayne  presided,  the 
Nullification  measure  was  repealed.  Hayne  was  a  man  of  excellent 
mental  powers  and  was  ready,  fluent  and  able  as  an  orator. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA  AND  THE  UNION 

[Mr.  Foot's  resolution,  which  called  forth  the  brilliant  passage  of  arms  between 
the  oratorical  champions  of  South  Carolina  and  Massachusetts,  was  for  an  inquiry  and 
report  on  the  quantity  of  the  public  lands  remaining  within  each  State  and  Territory, 
and  to  consider  the  expediency  of  continuing  or  ceasing  their  sale.  This  resolution 
was  debated  by  Hayne  in  two  able  speeches,  both  of  which  were  answered  by  Webster. 
In  these  speeches  the  subject  broadened  far  beyond  the  original  topic,  bringing  in  the 
question  of  the  stability  of  the  Union.  In  his  second  speech  Hayne  was  very  caustic 
in  his  allusions  to  the  Massachusetts  Senator,  provoking  the  latter  to  his  famous 
rejoinder.     We  must  confine  ourselves  to  suggestive  extracts  from  this  speech.] 

Mr.  President  :  When  I  took  occasion,  two  days  ago,  to  throw  out 
some  ideas  with  respect  to  the  policy  of  the  Government,  in  relation  to 
the  public  lands,  nothing  certainly  could  have  been  further  from  my 
thoughts  than  that  I  should  have  been  compelled  again  to  throw  myself 
upon  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate.  lyittle  did  I  expect  to  be  called  upon 
to  meet  such  an  argument  as  was  yesterday  urged  by  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  (Mr.  Webster).  Sir,  I  questioned  no  man's  opinions ;  I 
impeached  no  man's  motives  ;  I  charged  no  party,  or  State,  or  section  of 
country  with  hostility  to  any  other,  but  ventured,  as  I  thought  in  a 
becoming  spirit,  to  put  forth  my  own  sentiments  in  relation  to  a  great 
national  question  of  public  policy.  Such  was  my  course.  The  gentle- 
man from  Missouri  (Mr.  Benton),  it  is  true,  had  charged  upon  the  Eastern 
States  an  early  and  continued  hostility  towards  the  West,  and  referred  to 
a  number  of  historical  facts  and  documents  in  support  of  that  charge. 
Now,  sir,  how  have  these  different  arguments  been  met  ?  The  honorable 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  after  deliberating  a  whole  night  upon  his 
course,  comes  into  this  chamber  to  vindicate  New  England  ;  and,  instea( 
of  making  up  his  issue  with  the  gentleman  from  Missouri,  on  the  charge 
which  he  had  preferred,  chooses  to  consider  me  as  the  author  of  thoj 
charges;  and,  losing  sight  entirely  of  that  gentleman,  selects  me  as  hij 
adversary,  and  pours  all  the  vials  of  his  mighty  wrath  upon  my  devot< 
head.  Nor  is  he  willing  to  stop  there.  He  goes  on  to  assail  the  institti^ 
tions  and  policy  of  the  South,  and  calls  in  question  the  principles  an< 


ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE  81 

conduct  of  the  State  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent.  When  I  find  a 
gentleman  of  mature  age  and  experience,  of  acknowledged  talents  and 
profound  sagacity,  pursuing  a  course  like  this,  declining  the  contest 
offered  from  the  West,  and  making  war  upon  the  unoffending  South,  I 
must  believe,  I  am  bound  to  believe,  he  has  some  object  in  view  which 
he  has  not  ventured  to  disclose.  Mr.  President,  why  is  this  ?  Has  the 
gentleman  discovered  in  former  controversies  with  the  gentleman  from 
Missouri  that  he  is  overmatched  by  that  Senator  ?  And  does  he  hope  for 
an  easy  victory  over  a  more  feeble  adversary  ?  Has  the  gentleman's 
distempered  fancy  been  disturbed  by  gloomy  forebodings  of  ' '  new  alli- 
ances to  be  formed  ' '  at  which  he  hinted  ?  Has  the  ghost  of  the  murdered 
Coalition  come  back,  like  the  ghost  of  Ban  quo,  to  "  sear  the  eyeballs  of 
the  gentleman,"  and  will  it  not  *'down  at  his  command?"  Are  dark 
visions  of  broken  hopes,  and  honors  lost  forever,  still  floating  before  his 
heated  imagination  ?  Sir,  if  it  be  his  object  to  thrust  me  between  the 
gentleman  from  Missouri  and  himself,  in  order  to  rescue  the  Bast  from 
the  contest  it  has  provoked  with  the  West,  he  shall  not  be  gratified.  Sir, 
I  will  not  be  dragged  into  the  defence  of  my  friend  from  Missouri.  The 
South  shall  not  be  forced  into  a  conflict  not  its  own.  The  gentleman 
from  Missouri  is  able  to  fight  his  own  battles.  The  gallant  West  needs 
no  aid  from  the  South  to  repel  any  attack  which  may  be  made  on  them 
from  any  quarter.  Let  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  controvert  the 
facts  and  arguments  of  the  gentleman  from  Missouri,  if  he  can — and  if  he 
win  the  victory,  let  him  wear  the  honors  ;  I  shall  not  deprive  him  of  his 
laurels 

The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  in  alluding  to  a  remark  of  mine, 
that  before  any  disposition  could  be  made  of  the  public  lands,  the  national 
debt  (for  which  they  stand  pledged)  must  be  first  paid,  took  occasion  to 
intimate  "  that  the  extraordinary  fervor  which  seems  to  exist  in  a  certain 
quarter  (meaning  the  South,  sir)  for  the  payment  of  the  debt,  arises  from 
a  disposition  to  weaken  the  ties  which  bind  the  people  to  the  Union." 
While  the  gentleman  deals  us  this  blow,  he  professes  an  ardent  desire  to 
see  the  debt  speedily  extinguished.  He  must  excuse  me,  however,  for 
feeling  some  distrust  on  that  subject  until  I  find  this  disposition  mani- 
fested by  something  stronger  than  professions 

Sir,  as  to  the  doctrine  that  the  Federal  Government  is  the  exclusive 
judge  of  the  extent  as  well  as  the  limitations  ot  its  powers,  it  seems  to 
me  to  be  utterly  subversive  of  the  sovereignty  and  independence  of  the 
States.  It  makes  but  little  difference,  in  my  estimation,  whether  Congress 
or  the  Supreme  Court  are  invested  with  this  power.  If  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, in  all  or  any  of  its  departments,  is  to  prescribe  the  limits  of 
6 


82  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE 

its  own  authority,  and  the  States  are  bound  to  submit  to  the  decision,  and 
are  not  to  be  allowed  to  examine  and  decide  for  themselves  when  the  bar- 
riers of  the  Constitution  shall  be  overleaped,  this  is  practically  "  a  Gov- 
ernment without  limitation  of  powers."  The  States  are  at  once  reduced 
to  mere  petty  corporations,  and  the  people  are  entirely  at  your  mercy.  I 
have  but  one  word  more  to  add.  In  all  the  efforts  that  have  been  made 
by  South  Carolina  to  resist  the  unconstitutional  laws  which  Congress  has 
extended  over  them,  she  has  kept  steadily  in  view  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  by  the  only  means  by  which  she  believes  it  can  be  long  preserved, 
a  firm,  manly,  and  steady  resistance  against  usurpation.  The  measures 
of  the  Federal  Government  have,  it  is  true,  prostrated  her  interests,  and 
will  soon  involve  the  whole  South  in  irretrievable  ruin.  But  even  this 
evil,  great  as  it  is,  is  not  the  chief  ground  of  our  complaints.  It  is  the 
principle  involved  in  the  contest — a  principle  which,  substituting  the  dis- 
cretion of  Congress  for  the  limitations  of  the  Constitution,  brings  the 
States  and  the  people  to  the  feet  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  leaves 
them  nothing  they  can  call  their  own.  Sir,  if  the  measures  of  the  Federal 
Government  were  less  oppressive,  we  should  still  strive  against  this 
usurpation.  The  South  is  acting  on  a  principle  she  has  always  held 
sacred — resistance  to  unauthorized  taxation .  These,  sir,  are  the  principles 
which  induced  the  immortal  Hampden  to  resist  the  payment  of  a  tax  of 
twenty  shillings.  Would  twenty  shillings  have  ruined  his  fortune  ?  No  ! 
but  the  payment  of  half  twenty  shillings,  on  the  principle  on  which  it  was 
demanded,  would  have  made  him  a  slave.  Sir,  if  in  acting  on  these  high 
motives,  if  animated  by  that  ardent  love  of  liberty  which  has  always  been 
the  most  prominent  trait  in  the  Southern  character,  we  should  be  hurried 
beyond  the  bounds  of  a  cold  and  calculating  prudence,  who  is  there  with 
one  noble  and  generous  sentiment  in  his  bosom,  that  would  not  be  dis- 
posed, in  the  language  of  Burke,  to  exclaim,  ''  You  must  pardon  some- 
thing to  the  spirit  of  liberty  !  " 


\ 


DANIEL  WEBSTER  (J 7824 852) 

THE  BULWARK  OF  THE  UNION 


lyj  EVER  was  there  witnessed  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
\  a  greater  and  more  impressive  scene  than  that  of  a  memorable 
*  ^  day  in  January,  1830,  when  Daniel  Webster  delivered  his 
world-famed  "  Reply  to  Hayne."  Standing,  a  giant  in  debate,  before 
the  assembled  Senate,  he  rent  into  fragments  Hayne's  neatly  woven 
plea  for  disunion — fragments  which  no  hand,  however  great  its  skill, 
could  join  together  again. 

Daniel  Webster  became  prominent  in  three  fields  of  effort,  as  lawyer, 
orator  and  statesman.  He  had  won  wide  distinction  for  his  legal 
powers  before  he  entered  Congress  in  1804.  There  his  fame  was  ten- 
fold enhanced.  Of  his  many  speeches,  the  most  famous  were  the 
Plymouth  Rock  address  of  1820,  the  Bunker  Hill  oration  of  1825, 
the  Reply  to  Hayne  in  1830,  and  the  speech  on  Clay's  Compromise 
Bill  in  1850.  This  last,  spoken  little  more  than  two  years  before  his 
death,  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  noblest  efforts  of  his  career. 

*'  Of  the  effect  of  Mr.  Webster's  manner  in  many  parts,'^  says 
Edward  Everett,  "  it  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt  to  give  any  one  not 
present  the  faintest  idea.  It  has  been  my  fortune  to  hear  some  of  the 
ablest  speeches  of  the  greatest  living  orators,  on  both  sides  of  the 
water,  but  I  must  confess  I  never  heard  anything  which  so  completely 
realized  my  conception  of  what  Demosthenes  was  when  he  delivered 
the  oration  for  the  Crown.'' 

W^ebster's  speeches  bear  another  relation  to  those  of  Demosthenes, 
they  possess  a  living  force,  they  are  as  great  on  the  written  page  as 
they  were  on  the  rostrum.  There  is  no  waste  of  force,  no  feeble- 
ness of  an  anti-climax,  in  any  of  these  great  mental  efforts,  and  their 
worth  as  literature  is  noteless  than  was  their  value  as  oratory.     The 


84  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

name  of  Webster  will  always  live  as  one  of  the  few  supreme  orators 

of  the  world. 

THE  REPLY  TO  HAYNE 
[Of  Daniel  Webster's  Congressional  orations,  that  which  stands  first  on  the  roll 
of  fame  is  his  magnificent  address  of  January  30,  1830.  The  occasion  for  this  famous 
display  of  oratory  was  a  speech  made  by  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  in 
which  he  affirmed  the  right  of  a  State  to  annul  an  Act  of  Congress,  assailed  New 
England,  and  made  caustic  remarks  about  Mr.  Webster  himself.  From  this  speech 
we  have  quoted.  Webster's  reply  was  unanswerable.  In  it  he  drew  the  charge  from 
Mr.  Hayne's  guns  by  praising  South  Carolina  while  eulogizing  Massachusetts.] 

The  eulogium  pronounced  on  the  character  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  by  the  honorable  gentleman,  for  her  revolutionary  and  other 
merits,  meets  my  hearty  concurrence.  I  shall  not  acknowledge  that  the 
honorable  member  goes  before  me  in  regard  for  whatever  of  distinguished 
talent,  or  distinguished  character,  South  Carolina  has  produced.  I  claim 
part  of  the  honor,  I  partake  in  the  pride,  of  her  great  names.  I  claim 
them  for  countrymen,  one  and  all :  the  Laurenses,  the  Rutledges,  the 
Pinckneys,  the  Sumpters,  the  Marions — Americans  all — whose  fame  is 
no  more  to  be  hemmed  in  by  State  lines  than  their  talents  and  patriotism 
were  capable  of  being  circumscribed  within  the  same  narrow  limits.  In 
their  day  and  generation  they  served  and  honored  the  country,  and  the 
whole  country,  and  their  renown  is  of  the  treasures  of  the  whole 
country.  Him,  whose  honored  name  the  gentleman  himself  bears — 
does  he  esteem  me  less  capable  of  gratitude  for  his  patriotism,  or  sym- 
pathy for  his  sufferings,  than  if  his  eyes  had  first  opened  upon  the  light  of 
Massachusetts  instead  of  South  Carolina  ?  Sir,  does  he  suppose  it  in  his 
power  to  exhibit  a  Carolina  name  so  bright  as  to  produce  envy  in  my 
bosom  ?  No,  sir,  increased  gratification  and  delight,  rather.  I  thank 
God,  that,  if  I  am  gifted- with  little  of  the  spirit  which  is  able  to  raise 
mortals  to  the  skies,  I  have  yet  none,  as  I  trust,  of  that  other  spirit  which 
would  drag  angels  down.  When  I  shall  be  found,  sir,  in  my  place  here 
in  the  Senate,  or  elsewhere,  to  sneer  at  public  merit,  because  it  happens  to 
spring  up  beyond  the  little  limits  of  my  own  State  or  neighborhood^ 
when  I  refuse,  for  any  such  cause,  or  for  any  cause,  the  homage  due  tol 
American  talent,  to  elevated  patriotism,  to  sincere  devotion  to  liberty  and| 
the  country ;  or,  if  I  see  an  uncommon  endowment  of  Heaven,  if  I  S€ 
extraordinary  capacity  and  virtue  in  any  son  of  the  South,  and  if,  moved] 
by  local  prejudice,  or  gangrened  by  State  jealousy,  I  get  up  here  to  abate 
a  tithe  of  a  hair  from  his  just  character  and  just  fame,  may  my  tongue] 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  ! 

[         Sir,  let  me  recur  to  pleasing  recollections — let  me  indulge  in  refresh- 
ing remembrances  of  the  past — let  me  remind  you  that  in  early  times  no| 


DANIEL  WEBSTER  85 

States  cherished  greater  harmony,  both  of  principle  and  feeling, -than 
Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina.  Would  to  God  that  harmony  might 
again  return  !  Shoulder  to  shoulder  they  went  through  the  Revolution  ; 
hand  in  hand  they  stood  round  the  administration  of  Washington,  and 
felt  his  own  great  arm  lean  on  them  for  support.  Unkind  feeling,  if  it 
exist,  alienation  and  distrust,  are  the  growth,  unnatural  to  such  soils,  of 
false  principles  since  sown.  They  are  weeds,  the  seeds  of  which  that  same 
great  arm  never  scattered. 

Mr.  President,  I  shall  enter  on  no  encomium  upon  Massachusetts — 
she  needs  none.  There  she  is — behold  her,  and  judge  for  yourselves. 
There  is  her  history  ;  the  world  knows  it  by  heart.  The  past,  at  least,  is 
secure.  There  is  Boston,  and  Concord,  and  I<exington,  and  Bunker  Hill — 
and  there  they  will  remain  for  ever.  The  bones  of  her  sons,  falling  in 
the  great  struggle  for  Independence,  now  lie  mingled  with  the  soil  of  every 
State  from  New  England  to  Georgia ;  and  there  they  will  lie  forever. 
And,  sir,  where  American  Liberty  raised  its  first  voice,  and  where  its  youth 
was  nurtured  and  sustained,  there  it  still  lives,  in  the  strength  of  its  man- 
hood and  full  of  its  original  spirit.  If  discord  and  disunion  shall  wound 
it,  if  party  strife  and  blind  ambition  shall  hawk  at  and  tear  it,  if  folly  and 
madness — if  uneasiness,  under  salutary  and  necessary  restraint — shall  suc- 
ceed to  separate  it  from  that  Union ,  by  which  alone  its  existence  is  made 
sure ;  it  will  stand,  in  the  end,  by  the  side  of  that  cradle  in  which  its 
infancy  was  rocked  ;  it  will  stretch  forth  its  arm,  with  whatever  of  vigor 
it  may  still  retain,  over  the  friends  who  gather  round  it ;  and  it  will  fall 
at  last,  if  fall  it  must,  amidst  the  proudest  monuments  of  its  own  glory, 
and  on  the  very  spot  of  its  origin. 

[The  concluding  portion  of  Mr.  Webster's  speech  was  in  support  of  the  United 
States  Constitution.  In  it  he  vigorously  denied  the  power  of  any  State  legislature  to 
set  aside  a  provision  of  the  Constitution,  or  to  annul  an  Act  of  Congress  passed  in 
accordance  therewith.  His  peroration  is  one  of  the  most  magnificent  examples  of 
eloquence  on  record.] 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  not 
unalterable.  It  is  to  continue  in  its  present  form  no  longer  than  the  peo- 
ple who  established  it  shall  choose  to  continue  it.  If  they  shall  become 
convinced  that  they  have  made  an  injudicious  or  inexpedient  partition 
and  distribution  of  power  between  the  State  governments  and  the  general 
government,  they  can  alter  that  distribution  at  will. 

If  any  thing  be  found  in  the  national  Constitution,  either  by  original 
provision,  or  by  subsequent  interpretation,  which  ought  not  to  be  in  it,  the 
people  know  how  to  get  rid  of  it.  If  any  construction  be  established, 
unacceptable  to  them,  so  as  to  become,  practically,  a  part  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, they  will  amend  it,  at  their  own  sovereign  pleasure  :  but  while  the 


86  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

people  choose  to  maintain  it  as  it  is ;  while  they  are  satisfied  with  it,  and 
refuse  to  change  it ;  who  has  given,  or  who  can  give,  to  the  State  legisla- 
tures a  right  to  alter  it,  either  by  interference,  construction,  or  otherwise? 
Gentlemen  do  not  seem  to  recollect  that  the  people  have  any  power  to  do 
any  thing  for  themselves  ;  they  imagine  there  is  no  safety  for  them  any 
longer  than  they  are  under  the  close  guardianship  of  the  State  legislatures. 
Sir,  the  people  have  not  trusted  their  safety,  in  regard  to  the  general 
Constitution,  to  these  hands.  They  have  required  other  security,  and 
taken  other  bonds.  They  have  chosen  to  trust  themselves  ;  first,  to  the 
plain  words  of  the  instrument,  and  to  such  construction  as  the  govern- 
ment itself,  in  doubtful  cases,  should  put  on  its  own  powers,  under  their 
oaths  of  office,  and  subject  to  their  responsibility  to  them — ^just  as  the 
people  of  a  State  trust  their  own  State  governments  with  a  similar  power. 
Secondly,  they  have  reposed  their  trust  in  the  efl&cacy  of  frequent  elections, 
and  in  their  own  power  to  remove  their  own  servants  and  agents,  when- 
ever they  see  cause.  Thirdly,  they  have  reposed  trust  in  the  judicial 
power  ;  which,  in  order  that  it  might  be  trustworthy,  they  have  made  as 
respectable,  as  disinterested,  and  as  independent  as  was  practicable. 
Fourthly,  they  have  seen  fit  to  rely,  in  case  of  necessity,  or  high  expedi- 
ency, on  their  known  and  admitted  power  to  alter  or  amend  the  Constitu- 
tion, peaceably  and  quietly,  whenever  experience  shall  point  out  defects 
or  imperfections.  And,  finally,  the  people  of  the  United  States  have,  at 
no  time,  in  no  way,  directly  or  indirectly,  authorized  any  State  legislature 
to  construe  or  interpret  their  high  instrument  of  government ;  much  less 
to  interfere,  by  their  own  power,  to  arrest  its  course  and  operation. 

If,  sir,  the  people,  in  these  respects,  had  done  otherwise  than  they 
have  done,  their  Constitution  could  neither  have  been  preserved,  nor 
would  it  have  been  worth  preserving.  And,  if  its  plain  provisions  shall 
now  be  disregarded,  and  these  new  doctrines  interpolated  in  it,  it  will 
become  as  feeble  and  helpless  a  being  as  its  enemies,  whether  early  or 
more  recent,  could  possibly  desire.  It  will  exist  in  every  State  but  as  a 
poor  dependent  on  State  permission.  It  must  borrow  leave  to  be  ;  and 
will  be  no  longer  than  State  pleasure,  or  State  discretion,  sees  fit  to  grant 
the  indulgence,  and  to  prolong  its  poor  existence. 

But,  sir,  although  there  are  fears,  there  are  hopes  also.  The  people^ 
have  preserved  this,  their  own  chosen  Constitution,  for  forty  years,  and 
have  seen  their  happiness,  prosperity,  and  renown  grow  with  its  growth, 
and  strengthen  with  its  strength.  They  are  now,  generally,  strongly^ 
attached  to  it.  Overthrown  by  direct  assault,  it  cannot  be ;  evadedi 
undermined,  nullified,  it  will  not  be,  if  we,  and  those  who  shall  succeec 
Uo  here,  as  agents  and  representatives  of  the  people,  shall  couscientiousl] 


DANIEL  WEBSTER  87 

and  vigilantly  discharge  the  two  great  branches  of  our  public  trvist — 
faithfully  to  preserve,  and  wisely  to  administer  it. 
.'  _^     Mr.  President,  I  have  thus  stated  the  reasons  of  my  dissent  to  the 
^^^doctrines  which  have  been  advanced  and  maintained.     I  am  conscious  of 
having  detained  you  and  the  Senate  much  too  long.     I  was  drawn  into 
>^    the  debate,  with  lib  previous  deliberation  such  as  is  suited  to  the  discussion 
of  so  grave  and  important  a  subject.     But  it  is  a  Object  of  which  my 
he^t  is  full,  and  I  have  rfot  been  willing  to  suppress  the  utterance  of  its 
spontaneous  sentiments.     I  cannot,  even  now,  pervade  myself  to  relin- 
quish it,  without  expressing,  once  more,  my  deep  conviction  that,  since 
it  respects  nothing  less  than  the  union  of  the  States,  it  is  of  most  vital 
and  essential  importance  to  the  public  happiness. 

I  profess,  sir,  in  my  career,  hitherto,  to  have  kept  steadily  in  view  the 
prosperity  and  honor  of  the  whole  country  and  the^  preservation  of  our 
Federal  Union.  It  is  to  th^  Union  we  owe  our  gaiety  at  home  and  our 
consideration  and  dignity  abroad.  It  is  to  that  Union  that  we  are  chiefly 
indebted  for  whatever  makes  us  most  proud  of  our  country.  That  Union 
we  reached  only  by  the  discipline  of  our  virtues  in  the  severe  school  of 
adversity.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  necessities  of  disordered  finance,  pros- 
trate commerce  and  ruined  credit.  Under  its  benign  influences  these 
great  interests  immediately  awoke  as  from  the  dead  and  sprang  forth  with 
newness  of  life.  Every  year  of  its  duration  has  teemed  with  fresh  proofs 
of  its  utility  and  its  blessings  ;  and  although  our  territory  has  stretched 
out  wider  and  wider,  and  our  population  spread  farther  and  farther,  they 
have  not  outrun  its  protection  or  its  benefits.  It  has  been  to  us  all  a 
copious  fountain  of  national,  soci'al  and  pefsonaj/happiness. 

I  have  not  allowed  myself,  sir,  to  look  beyond  the  Union  to  see  what 
might  be  hidden  in  the  dark  recess  behind.  I  have  not  coolly  weighed 
the  chances  of  preserving  liberty  when  the  bonds  that  unite  us  together 
shall  be  broken  asunder.  I  have  not  accustomed  myself  to  hang  over  the 
precipice  of  disunion  to  see  whether  (with  my  short  sight/,  I  can  fathom 
the  depth  of  the  abyss  below  ;  nor  could  I  regard  him  as  a  safe  counsellor 
in  the  affairs  of  thi^  government  whose  thoughts  should  be  4nainly  bent 
on  considering,  not  how  the  Union  should  be  best  preserv^ed,  but  how 
tolerable  might  be  the  condition  of  the  people  when  it  shall  be  broken  up 
and  destroyed. 

While  the  Union  lasts  we  have  hign,  exciting,  gratifying  prospects 
spread  out  before  us,  for  us  and  our  children.  Beyc^nd  t^t  I  seek  not  to 
penetrate  the  veil.  God  grant  that,  in  my  day  at  least,  that  curtain  may 
not  rise.  God  grant  that  on  my  vision  never  may  be  opened  what  lies 
behind.     When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  behold,  for  the  last  time,  the 


88  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not  see  him  shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonored 
fragments  of  a  once  glorious  Union;  on  States  dissevered,  discordant, 
belligerent ;  on  a  land  rent  with  civil  feuds  or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in 
fraternal  blood  !  Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance,  rather,  behold 
the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  republic,  now  known  and  honored  throughout 
the  earth,  still  full  high  advanced,  its  arms  and  trophies  streaming  in 
their  original  lustre,  not  a  stripe  erased  or  polluted,  nor  a  single  star 
obscured,  bearing  for  its  motto  no  such  miserable  interrogatory  as,  What 
is  all  this  worth  ?  nor  those  other  words  of  delusion  and  folly,  Liberty 
first  and  Union  afterwards, — but  everywhere,  spread  all  over  in  characters 
of  living  light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea 
and  over  the  land,  and  in  ev^y  wind  under  ^e  whol^heavens,  tl;ra.t  other 
sentiment,  de^r  to  ev^ry  trtfe  American  heart — Lioerty  and  Union,  now 

THE  SECRET  OF  MURDER 


and  forever,  one  and  inseparable  ! 


[As  an  example  of  Webster's  forensic  oratory  we  offer  a  selection  from  his  cele- 
brated argument  in  the  trial  for  murder  of  John  K.  Kuapp.  In  the  passage  given  he 
soars  far  above  the  dry  level  of  legal  oratory,  and  depicts  the  effect  of  conscience  on 
the  mind  of  the  murderer  in  sentences  of  thrilling  intensity.] 

He  has  done  the  murder.  No  eye  has  seen  him,  no  ear  has  heard 
him.     The  secret  is  his  own,  and  it  is  safe  ! 

Ah  !  gentlemen,  that  was  a  dreadful  mistake.  Such  a  secret  can  be 
safe  nowhere.  The  whole  creation  of  God  has  neither  nook  nor  corner 
where  the  guilty  can  bestow  it  and  say  it  is  safe.  Not  to  speak  of  that  eye 
which  pierces  through  all  disguises,  and  beholds  everything  as  in  the 
splendor  of  noon  ;  such  secrets  of  guilt  are  never  safe  from  detection,  even 
by  men.  True  it  is,  generally  speaking,  that  "  murder  will  out."  True 
it  is,  that  Providence  hath  so  ordained  and  doth  so  govern  things  that 
those  who  break  the  great  law  of  Heaven  by  shedding  man's  blood  seldom 
succeed  in  avoiding  discovery.  Especially,  in  a  case  exciting  so  much 
attention  as  this,  discovery  must  come,  and  will  come,  sooner  or  later.  A 
thousand  eyes  turn  at  once  to  explore  every  man,  everything,  every  cir- 
cumstance, connected  with  the  time  and  place  ;  a  thousand  ears  catch 
every  whisper  ;  a  thousand  excited  minds  intensely  dwell  on  the  scene, 
shedding  all  their  light  and  ready  to  kindle  the  slightest  circumstance 
into  a  blaze  of  discovery.  Meantime  the  guilty  soul  cannot  keep  its  own 
secret.  It  is  false  to  itself;  or,  rather,  it  feels  an  irresistible  impulse  of 
conscience  to  be  true  to  itself.  It  labors  under  its  guilty  possession,  and 
knows  not  what  to  do  with  it.  The  human  heart  was  not  made  for  the 
residence  of  such  an  inhabitant.     It  finds  itself  preyed  on  by  a  torment, 


DANIEL  WEBSTER  89 

which  it  dares  not  acknowledge  to  God  or  man.  A  vulture  is  devouring 
it,  and  it  can  ask  no  sympathy  or  assistance  either  from  heaven  or  earth. 
The  secret  which  the  murderer  possesses  soon  comes  to  possess  him  ; 
and,  like  the  the  spirits  of  which  we  read,  it  overcomes  him,  and  leads 
him  whithersoever  it  will.  He  feels  it  beating  at  his  heart,  rising  to  his 
throat,  and  demanding  disclosure.  He  thinks  the  whole  world  sees  it  in 
his  face,  reads  it  in  his  eyes,  and  almost  hears  its  workings  in  the  very 
silence  of  his  thoughts.  It  has  become  his  master.  It  betrays  his  discre- 
tion, it  breaks  down  his  courage,  it  conquers  his  prudence.  /  When  sus- 
picions from  without  begin  to  embarrass  him,  and  the  net  of  circum- 
stances to  entangle  him,  the  fatal  secret  struggles  with  still  greater 
violence  to  burst  forth.  It  must  be  confessed,  it  will  be  confessed  ;  there 
is  no  refuge  from  confession  but  suicide,  and  suicide  is  confession. 

[His  argument  closed  with  a  most  impressive  appeal  to  the  jury.  In  these 
words  of  weight  and  wisdom  Duty  stands  before  us  in  the  grand  proportions  of  the 
inexorable  figure  of  Fate  in  the  mythology  of  ancient  Greece.] 

Gentlemen,  your  whole  concern  should  be  to  do  your  duty,  and  leave 
consequences  to  take  care  of  themselves.  You  will  receive  the  law  from 
the  Court.  Your  verdict,  it  is  true,  may  endanger  the  prisoner's  life  ;  but 
then,  it  is  to  save  other  lives.  If  the  prisoner's  guilt  has  been  shown  and 
proved,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  you  will  convict  him.  If  such  rea- 
sonable doubts  of  guilt  still  remain,  you  will  acquit  him.  You  are  the 
judges  of  the  whole  case.  You  owe  a  duty  to  the  public  as  well  as  to 
the  prisoner  at  the  bar.  You  cannot  presume  to  be  wiser  than  the  law. 
Your  duty  is  a  plain,  straightforward  one.  Doubtless,  we  would  all  judge 
him  in  mercy.  Towards  him,  as  an  individual,  the  law  inculcates  no  hos- 
tility ;  but  towards  him,  if  proved  to  be  a  murderer,  the  law  and  the 
oaths  you  have  taken,  and  public  justice,  demand  that  you  do  your  duty. 

With  consciences  satisfied  with  the  discharge  of  duty,  no  conse- 
quences can  harm  you.  There  is  no  evil  that  we  cannot  either  face  or  fly 
from,  but  the  consciousness  of  duty  disregarded. 

A  sense  of  duty  pursues  us  ever.  It  is  omnipresent,  like  the  Deity. 
If  we  take  to  ourselves  the  wings  of  the  morning  and  dwell  in  the  utmost 
parts  of  the  seas,  duty  performed,  or  duty- violated,  is  still  with  us,  for  our 
happiness,  or  our  misery.  If  we  say  the  darkness  shall  cover  us,  in  the 
darkness  as  in  the  light  our  obligations  are  yet  with  us.  We  cannot  escape 
their  power  nor  fly  from  their  presence.  They  are  with  us  in  this  life,  will 
be  with  us  at  its  close  ;  and  in  that  scene  of  inconceivable  solemnity  which 
lies  yet  farther  onward,  we  shall  still  find  ourselves  surrounded  by  the 
consciousness  of  duty,  to  pain  us  wherever  it  has  been  violated,  and  to 
console  us  so  far  as  God  may  have  given  us  grace  to  perform  it. 


JOHN  C  CALHOUN  (J 782- J 850) 

THE  STATE  RIGHTS'  LEADER 


i 


|F  the  parliamentary  orators  of  the  American  ''  golden  age " 
three  stand  decidedly  above  their  fellows,  Webster,  Clay  and 
Calhoun,  all  of  them  men  of  genius  and  orators  of  remarkable 
power.  "  The  eloquence  of  Mr.  Calhoun,"  says  Webster,  ''  was  part  of 
his  intellectual  character.  It  grew  out  of  the  qualities  of  his  mind. 
It  was  plain,  strong,  terse,  condensed,  concise  ;  sometimes  impassioned 
— still  always  severe.  Rejecting  ornament,  not  often  seeking  far  for 
illustration,  his  power  consisted  in  the  plainness  of  his  propositions, 
in  the  closeness  of  his  logic,  and  in  the  earnestness  and  energy  of  his 
manner.''  Born  in  the  same  year  as  Webster  (1782),  the  one  in 
South  Carolina,  the  other  in  New  Hampshire,  these  two  men  became 
prominent  adversaries  in  Congress  on  the  question  of  the  stability  of 
the  Union,  each  of  them  devoting  his  highest  powers  to  this  question 
pro  and  con.  Throughout  his  later  career  Calhoun  continued  a  disun- 
ionist.  One  of  the  most  ardent  advocates  for  the  institution  of  slavery, 
it  was  he  who  led  in  the  agitation  on  this  subject  from  1835  to  1850. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA  AND  THE  UNION 
[Among  the  efifects  of  the  South  Carolina  Nullification  Ordinance  of  1832  was  a 
bill,  commonly  called  the  Force  Bill,  introduced  into  Congress  in  1833,  its  purpose 
being  to  give  the  President  special  powers  in  the  collection  of  the  revenue.  This 
measure  called  forth  Mr.  Calhoun's  vigorous  protest  of  the  15th  and  i6th  of  February, 
from  which  the  following  selections  are  made.  Speaking  of  the  Nullification 
Ordinance,  he  says  :] 

It  has  been  objected  that  the  State  has  acted  precipitately.  What ! 
precipitately  !  after  making  a  strenuous  resistance  for  twelve  years — by 
discussion  here  and  in  the  other  House  of  Congress;  by  essays  in  all  forms; 
by  resolutions,  remonstrances,  and  protests  on  the  part  of  her  legisla- 
ture ;  and,  finally,  by  attempting  an  appeal  to  the  judicial  power  of  the 
90 


JOHN  C.  CALHOUN  91 

United  States?  I  say  attempting,  for  they  have  been  prevented  from 
bringing  the  question  fairly  before  the  court,  and  that  by  an  act  of  that 
very  majority  in  Congress  who  now  upbraid  them  for  not  making  that 
appeal ;  of  that  majority,  who,  on  a  motion  of  one  of  the  merhbers  in  the 
other  House,  from  South  Carolina,  refused  to  give  to  the  act  of  1828 
its  true  title — that  it  was  a  protective  and  not  a  revenue  act.  The 
State  has  never,  it  is  true,  relied  upon  that  tribunal,  the  Supreme  Court, 
to  vindicate  its  reserved  rights  ;  yet  they  have  always  considered  it  as  an 
auxiliary  means  of  defence,  of  which  they  would  gladly  have  availed 
themselves  to  test  the  constitutionality  of  protection,  had  they  not  been 
deprived  of  the  means  of  doing  so  by  the  act  of  the  majority. 

Notwithstanding  this  long  delay  of  more  than  ten  years,  under  this 
continued  encroachment  of  the  Government,  we  now  hear  it  on  all  sides, 
by  friends  and  foes,  gravely  pronounced  that  the  State  has  acted  pre- 
cipitately— that  her  conduct  has  been  rash  !  That  such  should  be  the 
language  of  an  interested  majority,  who,  by  means  of  this  unconstitutional- 
and  oppressive  system,  are  annually  extorting  millions  from  the  South,  to 
be  bestowed  upon  other  sections,  is  not  at  all  surprising.  Whatever 
impedes  the  course  of  avarice  and  ambition  will  ever  be  denounced  as 
rash  and  precipitate  ;  and  had  South  Carolina  delayed  her  resistance  fifty 
instead  of  twelve  years,  she  would  have  heard  from  the  same  quarter  the 
same  language ;  but  it  is  really  surprising  that  those  who  are  sufi^ering 
in  common  with  herself,  and  who  have  complained  equally  loud  of  their 
grievances  ;  who  have  pronounced  the  very  acts  which  she  asserted  within 
her  limits  to  be  oppressive,  unconstitutional,  and  ruinous,  after  so  long  a 
struggle — a  struggle  longer  than  that  which  preceded  the  separation  of 
these  States  from  the  mother  country — longer  than  the  period  of  the 
Trojan  war — should  now  complain  of  precipitancy  !  No,  it  is  not  Caro- 
lina which  has  acted  precipitately  ;  but  her  sister  States,  who  have  suffered 
in  common  with  her,  have  acted  tardily.  Had  they  acted  as  she  has  done; 
had  they  performed  their  duty  with  equal  energy  and  promptness ;  our 
situation  this  day  would  be  very  different  from  what  we  now  find  it. 
Delays  are  said  to  be  dangerous  ;  and  never  was  the  maxim  more  true 
than  in  the  present  case 

The  bill  violates  the  Constitution,  plainly  and  palpably,  in  many  of 
its  provisions,  by  authorizing  the  President,  at  his  pleasure,  to  place  the 
different  ports  of  this  Union  on  an  unequal  footing,  contrary  to  that  pro- 
vision of  the  Constitution  which  declares  that  no  preference  shall  be 
given  to  one  port  over  another.  It  also  violates  the  Constitution  by 
authorizing  him,  at  his  discretion,  to  impose  cash  duties  in  one  port 
while  credit  is  allowed  in  others  ;  by  enabling  the  President  to  regulate 


92  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN 

commerce,  a  power  vested  in  Congress  alone  ;  and  by  drawing  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  courts  powers  never  intended  to  be  con- 
ferred on  them.  As  great  as  these  objections  are,  they  become  insignifi- 
cant in  the  provisions  of  a  bill  which,  by  a  single  blow — by  treating  the 
States  as  a  mere  lawless  mass  of  individuals — prostrates  all  the  barriers 
of  the  Constitution. 

I  will  pass  over  the  minor  considerations,  and  proceed  directly  to  the 
great  point.  This  bill  proceeds  on  the  ground  that  the  entire  sovereignty 
of  this  country  belongs  to  the  American  people,  as  forming  one  great 
community  ;  and  regards  the  States  as  mere  fractions  or  counties,  and  not 
as  integral  parts  of  the  Union  ;  having  no  more  right  to  resist  the 
encroachments  of  the  government  than  a  county  has  to  resist  the  authority 
of  a  State ;  and  treating  such  resistance  as  the  lawless  acts  of  so  many 
individuals,  without  possessing  sovereignty  or  political  rights.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  bill  declares  war  against  South  Carolina.  No.  It 
decrees  a  massacre  of  her  citizens !  War  has  something  ennobling  about 
it,  and,  with  all  its  horrors,  brings  into  action  the  highest  qualities,  intel- 
lectual and  moral.  It  was,  perhaps,  in  the  order  of  Providence  that  it 
should  be  permitted  for  that  very  purpose.  But  this  bill  declares  no  war 
— except,  indeed,  it  be  that  which  savages  wage — a  war,  not  against  the 
community,  but  the  citizens  of  whom  that  community  is  composed.  But 
I  regard  it  as  worse  than  savage  warfare  ;  as  an  attempt  to  take  away  life 
under  the  color  of  law,  without  the  trial  by  jury,  or  any  other  safeguard 
which  the  Constitution  has  thrown  around  the  life  of  the  citizen  ?  It 
authorizes  the  President,  or  even  his  deputies,  when  they  may  suppose  the 
law  to  be  violated,  without  the  intervention  of  a  court  or  jury,  to  kill 
without  mercy  or  discrimination  ! 

It  has  been  said  by  the  Senator  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Grundy)  to  be  a 
measure  of  peace  !  Yes,  such  peace  as  the  wolf  gives  to  the  lamb — the 
kite  to  the  dove  !  Such  peace  as  Russia  gives  to  Poland,  or  death  to  its 
victim  !  A  peace,  by  extinguishing  the  political  existence  of  the  State, 
by  awing  her  into  an  abandonment  of  the  exercise  of  every  power  which 
constitutes  her  a  sovereign  community.  It  is  to  South  Carolina  a  ques- 
tion of  self-preservation  ;  and  I  proclaim  it  that,  should  this  bill  pass, 
and  an  attempt  be  made  to  enforce  it,  it  will  be  resisted,  at  every  hazard — 
even  that  of  death  itself.  Death  is  not  the  greatest  calamity  ;  there  are 
others  still  more  terrible  to  the  free  and  brave,  and  among  them  may  be 
placed  the  loss  of  liberty  and  honor.  There  are  thousands  of  her  brave 
sons  who,  if  need  be,  are  prepared  cheerfully  to  lay  down  their  lives  in 
defence  of  the  State  and  the  great  principles  of  constitutional  liberty  for 
which  she  is  contending.     God  forbid  that  this  should  become  necessary  ! 


I 


JOHN  C.  CALHOUN  93 

It  never  can  be,  unless  this  government  is  resolved  to  bring  the  question 
to  .extremity,  when  her  gallant  sons  will  stand  prepared  to  perform  the 

last  duty — to  die  nobly 

In  the  same  spirit  we  are  told  that  the  Union  must  be  preserved, 
without  regard  to  the  means.  And  how  is  it  proposed  to  preserve  the 
Union  ?  By  force  ?  Does  any  man  in  his  senses  believe  that  this  beauti- 
ful structure — this  harmonious  aggregate  of  States,  produced  by  the  con- 
sent of  all — can  be  preserved  by  force  ?  Its  very  introduction  will  be 
certain  destruction  to  this  Federal  Union.  No,  no  !  You  cannot  keep 
the  States  united  in  their  constitutional  and  federal  bonds  by  force. 
Force  may,  indeed,  hold  the  parts  together,  but  such  union  would  be  the 
bond  between  master  and  slave — a  union  of  exaction  on  one  side  and  of 
unqualified  obedience  on  the  other.  That  obedience  which,  we  are  told 
by  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Wilkins),  is  the  Union!  Yes, 
exaction  on  the  side  of  the  master  ;  for  this  very  bill  is  intended  to  collect 
what  can  be  no  longer  called  taxes — the  voluntary  contribution  of  a  free 
people — but  tribute — tribute  to  be  collected  under  the  mouths  of  the  can- 
non !  Your  customhouse  is  already  transferred  to  a  garrison — and  that 
garrison  with  its  batteries  turned,  not  against  the  enemy  of  your  country, 
but  on  subjects  (I  will  not  say  citizens),  on  whom  you  propose  to  levy 
contributions.  Has  reason  fled  from  our  borders  ?  Have  we  ceased  to 
reflect  ?  It  is  madness  to  suppose  that  the  Union  can  be  preserved  by 
force.  I  tell  you  plainly  that  the  bill,  should  it  pass,  cannot  be  enforced. 
It  will  prove  only  a  blot  upon  your  statute-book,  a  reproach  to  the  year, 
and  a  disgrace  to  the  American  Senate.  I  repeat,  it  will  not  be  executed  ; 
it  will  rouse  the  dormant  spirit  of  the  people,  and  open  their  eyes  to  the 
approach  of  despotism.  The  country  has  sunk  into  avarice  and  political 
corruption,  from  which  nothing  can  arouse  it  but  some  measure,  on  the 
part  of  the  government,  of  folly  and  madness,  such  as  that  now  under 
consideration.  Disguise  it  as  you  may,  the  controversy  is  one  between 
power  and  liberty  ;  and  I  tell  the  gentlemen  who  are  opposed  to  me,  that, 
as  strong  as  may  be  the  love  of  power  on  their  side,  the  love  of  liberty  is 
still  stronger  on  ours. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  (J 767-1 848) 

THE  OLD  MAN  ELOQUENT 


mHE  Adams  family  has  played  a  great  part  in  American  public 
life.  Through  four  generations  it  has  given  us  orators  and 
statesmen  of  prominence  and  ability.  Political  opponents 
have  declared  that  no  member  of  the  family  ever  showed  more  than 
respectable  natural  talent,  but  certainly  it  was  talent  of  the  kind  that 
the  American  people  recognized  and  appreciated,  since  they  raised 
two  members  of  the  family  to  the  highest  position  in  their  gift.  John 
Adams,  while  not  ranking  with  our  most  capable  orators,  did  so  with 
our  leading  patriots.  His  standard  of  Americanism  is  fitly  expressed 
in  his  memorable  words  of  1774  :  ^'Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive 
or  perish  with  my  country,  is  my  unalterable  determination."  The 
standing  of  his  son,  John  Quincy  Adams,  as  an  orator,  is  indicated  by 
the  title  of  "  Old  Man  Eloquent,"  given  him  in  his  later  days ;  while 
his  grandson  and  great-grandson,  Charles  Francis  and  Charles  Francis, 
Jr.,  possessed  rich  gifts  in  the  same  field. 

Omitting  selections  from  the  elder  Adams,  we  here  deal  with  his 
accomplished  and  able  son,  who,  like  him,  became  President  of  the 
United  States.  His  subsequent  career  differed  from  that  of  our  other 
ex-presidents.  Instead  of  withdrawing  from  political  life,  he  returned 
to  Congress  in  1831,  and  remained  a  member  of  the  House  until  his 
death  in  1848. 

*'In  every  respect,"  says  Seward,  ^^he  was  a  model  legislator. 
He  was  constantly  at  his  post,  and  few  members  surpassed  him  in 
strict  attention  to  duty  and  power  of  endurance."  His  most  memora- 
ble service  was  his  continued  presentation  to  Congress  of  petitions  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  offered  by  members  of  the  Anti-slavery  party. 
Efforts  to  check  him  in  this  were  in  vain.  He  persistently  maintained 
94 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  95 

and  exercised  the  right  of  petition.  The  House  adopted  a  rule 
that  no  petition  relating  to  slavery  should  be  read,  printed,  or  debated, 
but  Adams  was  not  thus  to  be  defeated.  Pie  held  his  ground  with 
unwavering  firmness  against  the  bitterest  opposition,  presenting  the 
petitions  one  by  one,  sometimes  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  a  day, 
and  insisting  that  the  House  should  act  on  each  separate  petition.  He 
died  in  harness.  On  the  21st  of  February,  1848,  he  was  stricken  with 
paralysis  while  in  his  seat  at  the  Capitol.  He  died  on  the  23d,  with 
these  notable  last  words  :  "  This  is  the  last  of  earth.     I  am  content." 

A  EULOGY  OF  LAFAYETTE 

[Lafayette,  the  distinguished  French  noble  who  came  to  the  struggling  Ameri- 
can colonies  while  still  in  boyhood  to  fight  with  them  for  freedom,  who  was  the  friend 
and  confident  of  Washington,  who  commanded  the  National  Guard  of  France  in  the 
Revolution  of  his  own  country,  and  who  in  1824  was  received  with  the  highest  honor 
and  enthusiasm  in  the  United  States,  came  to  his  last  day  on  May  20,  1834.  In  Con- 
gress at  that  date  there  was  none  who  knew  him  better  or  was  more  fitted  to  speak  for 
America  in  his  memory  than  John  Quincy  Adams.  From  his  oration  on  this  subject, 
delivered  in  Congress  on  December  31,  1834,  we  give  the  eloquent  peroration.] 

Pronounce  him  one  of  the  first  men  of  his  age,  and  you  have  not  yet 
done  him  justice.  Try  him  by  that  test  to  which  he  sought  in  vain  to 
stimulate  the  vulgar  and  selfish  spirit  of  Napoleon ;  class  him  among  the 
men  who,  to  compare  and  seat  themselves,  must  take  in  the  compass  of 
all  ages ;  turn  back  your  eyes  upon  the  records  of  time  ;  summon  from 
the  creation  of  the  world  to  this  day  the  mighty  dead  of  every  age  and 
every  clime — and  where,  among  the  race  of  merely  mortal  men,  shall  one 
be  found  who,  as  the  benefactor  of  his  kind,  shall  claim  to  take  prece- 
dence of  Lafayette  ? 

There  have  doubtless  been  in  all  ages  men  whose  discoveries  or 
inventions,  in  the  world  of  matter  or  of  mind,  have  opened  new  avenues  to 
the  dominion  of  man  over  the  material  creation  ;  have  increased  his  means 
or  his  faculties  of  enjoyment ;  have  raised  him  in  nearer  approximation 
to  that  higher  and  happier  condition,  the  object  of  his  hopes  and  aspira- 
tions in  his  present  state  of  existence. 

Lafayette  discovered  no  new  principle  of  politics  or  morals.  He 
invented  nothing  in  science.  He  disclosed  no  new  phenomenon  in  the 
laws  of  nature.  Born  and  educated  in  the  highest  order  of  feudal  nobility, 
under  the  most  absolute  monarchy  of  Europe,  in  possession  of  an  affluent 
fortune,  and  master  of  himself  and  of  all  his  capabilities  at  the  moment  of 
attaining  manhood,  the  principle  of  republican  justice  and  of  social 
equality  took  possession  of  his  heart  and  mind,  as  if  by  inspiration  from 


96  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS 

above.  He  devoted  himself,  his  life,  his  fortune,  his  hereditary  honors, 
his  towering  ambition,  his  splendid  hopes,  all  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  He 
came  to  another  hemisphere  to  defend  her.  He  became  one  of  the  most 
effective  champions  of  our  Independence  ;  but,  that  once  achieved,  he 
returned  to  his  own  country,  and  thenceforward  took  no  part  in  the 
controversies  which  have  divided  us.  In  the  events  of  our  Revolution, 
and  in  the  forms  of  policy  which  we  have  adopted  for  the  establishment 
and  perpetuation  of  our  freedom,  I^afayette  found  the  most  perfect  form 
of  government.  He  wished  to  add  nothing  to  it.  He  would  gladly 
have  abstracted  nothing  from  it.  Instead  of  the  imaginary  Republic  of 
Plato,  or  the  Utopia  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  he  took  a  practical  existing 
model,  in  actual  operation  here,  and  never  attempted  or  wished  more 
than  to  apply  it  faithfully  to  his  own  country. 

It  was  not  given  to  Moses  to  enter  the  promised  land  ;  but  he  saw  it 
from  the  summit  of  Pisgah.  It  was  not  given  to  Lafayette  to  witness  the 
consummation  of  his  wishes  in  the  establishment  of  a  republic,  and  the 
extinction  of  all  hereditary  rule  in  France.  His  principles  were  in  advance 
of  the  age  and  hemisphere  in  which  he  lived.  A  Bourbon  still  reigns  on 
the  throne  of  France,  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  scrutinize  the  title  by  which 
he  reigns.  The  principles  of  elective  and  hereditary  power,  blended  in 
reluctant  union  in  his  person,  like  the  red  and  white  roses  of  York  and 
Lancaster,  may  postpone  to  aftertime  the  last  conflict  to  which  they  must 
ultimately  come.  The  life  of  the  patriarch  was  not  long  enough  for  the 
development  of  his  whole  political  system.  Its  final  accomplishment  is 
in  the  womb  of  time. 

The  anticipation  of  this  event  is  the  more  certain,  from  the  consider- 
ation that  all  the  principles  for  which  Lafayette  contended  were  practical. 
He  never  indulged  himself  in  wild  and  fanciful  speculations.  The  prin- 
ciple of  hereditary  power  was,  in  his  opinion,  the  bane  of  all  republican 
liberty  in  Europe.  Unable  to  extinguish  it  in  the  Revolution  of  1830,  so 
far  as  concerned  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  nation,  Lafayette  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  it  abolished  with  reference  to  the  peerage.  An  here- 
ditary Crown,  stript  of  the  support  which  it  may  derive  from  an  hereditary 
peerage,  however  compatible  with  Asiatic  despotism,  is  an  anomaly  in 
the  history  of  the  Christian  world  and  in  the  theory  of  free  government. 
There  is  no  argument  producible  against  the  existence  of  an  hereditary 
peerage,  but  applies  with  aggravated  weight  against  the  transmission, 
from  sire  to  son,  of  an  hereditary  Crown.  The  prejudices  and  passions  of] 
the  people  of  France  rejected  the  principle  of  inherited  power,  in  every  sta- 
tion of  public  trust,  excepting  the  first  and  highest  of  them  all ;  but  there 
they  clung  to  it,  as  did  the  Israelites  of  old  to  the  savory  deities  of  Egypt. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  97 

This  is  not  the  time  or  the  place  for  a  disquisition  upon  the  compara- 
tive  merits,  as  a  system  of  government,  of  a  republic,  and  a  monarchy  sur- 
rounded by  republican  institutions.  Upon  this  subject  there  is  among  us 
no  diversity  of  opinion  ;  and  if  it  should  take  the  people  of  France  another 
half  century  of  internal  and  external  war,  of  dazzling  and  delusive  glories, 
of  unparalleled  triumphs,  humiliating  reverses,  and  bitter  disappointments, 
to  settle  it  to  their  satisfaction,  the  ultimate  result  can  only  bring  them  to 
the  point  where  we  have  stood  from  the  day  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence— to  the  point  where  Lafayette  would  have  brought  them,  and  to 
which  he  looked  as  a  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished. 

Then,  too,  and  then  only,  will  be  the  time  when  the  character  of 
Lafayette  will  be  appreciated  at  its  true  value  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  When  the  principle  of  hereditary  dominion  shall  be  relinquished 
in  all  the  institutions  of  France ;  when  government  shall  no  longer  be 
considered  as  property  transmissible  from  sire  to  son,  but  as  a  trust  com- 
mitted for  a  limited  time,  and  then  to  return  to  the  people  whence  it  came ; 
as  a  burdensome  duty  to  be  discharged,  and  not  as  a  reward  to  be  abused  ; 
when  a  claim,  any  claim,  to  political  power  by  inheritance  shall,  in  the 
estimation  of  the  whole  French  people,  be  held  as  it  now  is  by  the  whole 
people  of  the  North  American  Union — then  will  be  the  time  for  contem- 
plating the  character  of  Lafayette,  not  merely  in  the  events  of  his  life,  but 
in  the  full  development  of  his  intellectual  conceptions,  of  his  fervent 
aspirations,  of  the  labors  and  perils  and  sacrifices  of  his  long  and  eventful 
career  upon  earth  ;  and  thenceforward,  till  the  hour  when  the  trump  of 
the  Archangel  shall  sound  to  announce  that  time  shall  be  no  more,  the 
name  of  Lafayette  shall  stand  enrolled  upon  the  annals  of  our  race,  high 
on  the  list  of  the  pure  and  disinterested  benefactors  of  mankind. 


iEDWARD  EVERETT  (1794-1865) 

THE  RESCUER  OF  THE  HOME  OF  WASHINGTON 


mHE  title  we  have  given  Everett  is  in  remembrance  of  his  strenu- 
ous efforts  to  save  for  the  people  one  of  America's  most  sacred 
relics,  Washington's  home  at  Mount  Vernon.  Resigning  his 
seat  in  Congress  in  1854  on  account  of  failing  health,  he  began,  the 
moment  returning  health  permitted,  one  of  the  most  active  efforts  of 
his  life,  the  collection  of  money  by  writing  and  lecturing  for  the  pur- 
chase of  this  historic  estate,  that  it  might  be  kept  for  all  future  time 
as  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  patriotic  Americans.  The  sum  raised  by 
him,  about  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  sufficed  for  this  noble  pur- 
pose, and  Mount  Vernon  became  the  property  of  the  American  people. 
As  an  orator  Everett  stands  very  high  among  Americans,  his  lec- 
tures and  speeches  being  rarely  surpassed  in  value,  if  we  consider  at 
once  the  information  they  contain,  and  the  grace  and  elegance  of 
their  style.  Edward  Everett  may  be  said  to  have  gone  to  school  to 
Daniel  Webster,  for  he  was  prepared  for  college  by  Ezekiel  Webster, 
who  w^as  replaced  for  a  week  in  the  school  by  his  brother  Daniel. 
Thus  began  the  acquaintance  of  these  two  distinguished  orators. 
Many  years  afterward,  in  1852,  the  pupil  succeeded  his  temporary 
teacher  as  Secretary  of  State. 

Everett  studied  divinity  and  was  for  a  short  time  a  minister  in 
Boston,  leaving  the  church  to  become  Greek  professor  at  Harvard.  He 
was  elected  to  Congress  in  1824  and  remained  there  for  ten  years,  only 
quitting  the  House  of  Representatives  to  become  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts. In  1841  he  was  appointed,  through  the  influence  of  Webster, 
Minister  to  Great  Britain,  a  diplomatic  post  which  has  never  been 
more  creditably  and  ably  filled.  In  1845  he  was  elected  President  of 
Harvard  University.     In  1845,  as  above  said,  he  was  for  a  brief  period 


EDWARD  EVERETT  99 

Secretary  of  State,  leaving  this  position  to  enter  the  Senate.  This  seat 
he  soon  resigned,  on  account  of  ill  health.  Conservative  by  tempera- 
ment, he  favored  a  conciliatory  policy  on  the  part  of  the  North,  with 
the  hope  of  averting  the  threatened  war,  and  became  the  nominee  for 
Vice-President  of  the  party  of  compromise  and  conciliation,  on  the 
ticket  headed  by  John  Bell  of  Tennessee.  But  when  war  became 
inevitable,  he  used  all  his  energy  towards  the  support  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. He  survived  till  near  the  end  of  the  conflict,  dying  on 
January  15,  1865. 

THE  FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  DECLARATION 

[The  year  1S26,  which  completed  the  fiftieth  anniversary  ot  American  Inde- 
pendence, was  one  that  gave  occasion  for  much  stirring  oratory,  and  for  general  cele- 
bration in  honor  of  the  thrilling  days  and  heroic  men  of  '76.  Most  famous  among 
the  patriotic  addresses  is  that  of  Daniel  Webster,  delivered  at  the  laying  of  the  comer- 
stone  of  the  Banker  Hill  Monument  on  June  17th.  On  July  4th,  the  anniversary  of 
the  signing  of  the  Declaration,  Edward  Everett  delivered  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts, 
a  notable  oration,  with  the  Declaration  for  its  subject.  From  this  long  and  eloquent 
address  we  select  some  illustrative  passages.] 

Fellow  Citizens  :  It  belongs  to  us,  with  strong  propriety,  to  cele- 
brate this  day.  The  town  of  Cambridge,  and  the  county  of  Middlesex,  are 
filled  with  the  vestiges  of  the  Revolution  ;  whithersoever  we  turn  our  eyes 
we  behold  some  memento  of  its  glorious  scenes.  Within  the  walls  in  which 
we  are  now  assembled,  was  convened  the  first  provincial  congress,  afler 
its  adjournment  at  Concord.  The  rural  magazine  at  Medford  reminds 
us  of  one  of  the  earliest  acts  of  British  aggression.  The  march  of  both 
divisions  of  the  royal  army,  on  the  memorable  19th  of  April,  was 
through  the  limits  of  Cambridge  ;  in  the  neighboring  towns  of  I^exington 
and  Concord  the  first  blood  of  the  Revolution  was  shed  ;  in  West  Cam- 
bridge the  royal  convoy  of  provisions  was,  the  same  day,  gallantly  sur- 
prised by  the  aged  citizens,  who  staid  to  protect  their  homes  while  their 
sons  pursued  the  foe.  Here  the  first  American  army  was  formed  ;  from 
this  place,  on  the  17th  of  June,  was  detached  the  Spartan  band  that 
immortalized  the  heights  of  Charlestown,  and  consecrated  that  day,  with 
blood  and  fire,  to  the  cause  of  American  liberty.  Beneath  the  venerable 
elm  which  still  shades  the  southwestern  comer  of  the  common,  General 
Washington  first  unsheathed  his  sword  at  the*  head  of  an  American  army, 
and  to  that  seat*  was  wont  every  Sunday  to  repair,  to  join  in  the  suppli- 
cations which  were  made  for  the  welfare  of  his  country. 


*  The  first  wall  pew,  to  the  ris^ht  of  the  pulpit  of  the  diorch  in  whidh  the  oration  was  delivered. 


100  EDWARD  EVERETT 

How  changed  is  now  the  scene  !  The  foe  is  gone  !  The  din  and  the 
desolation  of  war  are  passed  ;  Science  has  long  resumed  her  station  in  the 
shades  of  our  venerable  university,  no  longer  glittering  with  arms ;  the 
anxious  war-council  is  no  longer  in  session,  to  offer  a  reward  for  the  dis- 
covery of  the  best  mode  of  making  saltpetre, — an  unpromising  stage  of 
hostilities  when  an  army  of  twenty  thousand  men  is  in  the  field  in  front 
of  the  foe  ;  the  tall  grass  now  waves  in  the  trampled  sally-port  of  some 
of  the  rural  redoubts,  that  form  a  part  of  the  simple  lines  of  circumvalla- 
tion  within  which  a  half-armed  American  militia  held  the  flower  of  the 
British  army  blockaded  :  the  plough  has  done  what  the  English  batteries 
could  not  do, — has  levelled  others  of  them  with  the  earth  ;  and  the  men, 
the  great  and  good  men — their  warfare  is  over,  and  they  have  gone  quietly 
down  to  the  dust  they  redeemed  from  oppression. 

[Speaking  of  the  praise  due  to  those  who  took  part  in  the  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence, the  orator  continues  :] 

This  meed  of  praise,  substantially  accorded  at  the  time  by  Chatham,  in 
the  British  Parliament,  may  well  be  repeated  by  us.  For  most  of  the  vener- 
ated men  to  whom  it  is  paid  it  is  but  a  pious  tribute  to  departed  worth. 
The  lyces  and  the  Henries,  Otis,  Quincy,  Warren,  and  Samuel  Adams, 
the  men  who  spoke  those  words  of  thrilling  power  which  raised  and  ruled 
the  storm  of  resistance,  and  rang  like  a  voice  of  fate  across  the  Atlantic, 
are  beyond  the  reach  of  our  praise.  To  most  of  them  it  was  granted  to 
witness  some  of  the  fruits  of  their  labors — such  fruit  as  revolutions  do  not 
often  bear.  Others  departed  at  an  untimely  hour,  or  nobly  fell  in  the 
onset ;  too  soon  for  their  country,  too  soon  for  liberty,  too  soon  for  every- 
thing but  their  own  undying  fame.  But  all  are  not  gone  ;  some  still  sur- 
vive among  us  ;  the  favored,  enviable  men,  to  hail  the  jubilee  of  the  inde- 
pendence they  declared.  Go  back,  fellow-citizens,  to  that  day  when  Jef- 
ferson and  Adams  composed  the  sub-committee  who  reported  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Think  of  the  mingled  sensations  of  that 
proud  but  anxious  day,  compared  to  the  joy  ot  this.  What  honor,  what 
crown,  what  treasure,  could  the  world  and  all  its  kingdoms  afford,  com- 
pared with  the  honor  and  happiness  of  having  been  united  in  that  com- 
mission, and  living  to  see  its  most  wavering  hopes  turned  into  glorious 
reality!  -Venerable  men  !  you  have  outlived  the  dark  days  which  fol- 
lowed your  more  than  heroic  deed  ;  you  have  outlived  your  own  strenuous 
contention,  who  should  stand  first  among  the  people  whose  liberty  you 
vindicated.  You  have  lived  to  bear  to  each  other  the  respect  which  the 
nation  bears  to  you  both  ;  and  each  has  been  so  happy  as  to  exchange  the 
honorable  name  of  the  leader  of  a  party  for  that  more  honorable  one,  the 
Father  of  his  Country.     While  this  our  tribute  of  respect,  on  the  jubilee 


EDWARD  EVERETT  101 

of  our  independence,  is  paid  to  the  gray  hairs  of  the  venerable  survivor  in 
our  neighborhood. "*=  let  it  not  less  heartily  be  sped  to  himf  whose  hand 
traced  the  lines  of  that  sacred  charter,  which,  to  the  end  of  time,  has 
made  this  day  illustrious.  And  is  an  empty  profession  of  respect  all  that 
we  owe  to  the  man  who  can  show  the  original  draft  of  the  declaratioii 
of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  his  own  handwrit- 
ing ?  Ought  not  a  title-deed,  like  this  to  become  the  acquisition  of  the 
nation  ?  Ought  it  not  to  be  laid  up  in  the  archives  of  the  people  ?  Ought 
not  the  price  at  which  it  is  bought  to  be  the  ease  and  comfort  of  the  old 
age  of  him  who  drew  it  ?  Ought  not  he  who,  at  the  age  of  thirty, 
declared  the  independence  of  his  country,  at  the  age  of  eighty  to  be 
secured  by  his  country  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  own  ?  J 

Nor  let  us  forget,  on  the  return  of  this  eventful  day,  the  men  who, 
when  the  conflict  of  counsel  was  over,  stood  forward  in  that  of  arms. 
Yet  let  me  not,  by  faintly  endeavoring  to  sketch,  do  deep  injustice  to  the 
stor\-  of  their  exploits.  The  efforts  of  a  life  would  scarce  suffice  to  padnt 
out  this  picture,  in  all  its  astonishing  incidents,  in  all  its  mingled  colors 
of  sublimity  and  woe,  of  agony  and  triumph.  But  the  age  of  commemora- 
tion is  at  hand.  The  voice  of  our  fathers'  blood  begins  to  cry  to  us,  firom 
beneath  the  soil  which  it  moistened.  Time  is  bringing  forward,  in  th^ 
proper  relief,  the  men  and  the  deeds  of  that  high-souled  day.  The  genera- 
tion of  contemporary  worthies  is  gone ;  the  crowd  of  unsignalized.  great 
and  good  disappears ;  and  the  leaders  in  war  as  well  as  council  are  seen, 
in  Fancy's  eye,  to  take  their  stations  on  the  Mount  of  Remembrance. 
They  come  from  the  embattled  clifis  of  Abraham  ;  they  start  from  the 
heaving  sods  of  Bunker's  Hill ;  they  gather  from  the  blazing  lines  of  Sara- 
toga and  York  town,  from  the  blood-dyed  waters  of  the  Brandywine,  from 
the  dreary  snows  of  Yalley  Forge,  and  all  the  hard-fought  fields  of  the 
war.  With  all  their  wounds  and  all  their  honors,  they  rise  and  plead 
with  us  for  their  brethren  who  survive ;  and  bid  us,  if  indeed  we  cherisli 
the  memon,'  of  those  who  bled  in  our  cause,  to  show  our  gratitude,  not  by 
sounding  words,  but  by  stretching  out  the  strong  arm  of  the  country *s 
prosperity  to  help  the  veteran  survivors  gently  down  to  their  graves. 

*  John  Adams. 

t  Thomas  Jefferson. 

t  It  is  a  circumstance  of  striking  interest  that  Adam?  and  Tefierson,  the  two  men  SDcfcen  of  in 
this  passage,  both  died  on  the  day  ia  which  the  cration  w.m>  de'.i'.-ered.  departing  trom  life,  by  oa<e  cf 
the  most  remarkable  coincidences  in  history,  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  signing  of  the  greal 
Declaration  of  which  they  were  the  joint  aathcns. 


RUFUS  CHOATE  ft 7994 858) 

AMERICA'S  ABLEST  ADVOCATE 


JUFUS  CHOATE  was  not  alone  the  great  light  of  the  bar  of 
New  England,  but  may  fairly  be  given  place  as  the  most 
eminent  legal  adv  ocate  America  has  ever  produced.  His  vast 
learning  in  law  and  literature  formed  but  the  ground-work  of  his 
illustrious  career.  Nature  had  endowed  him  with  the  requisites  to 
the  highest  success  in  oratory.  A  tall  and  commanding  person,  a 
highly  expressive  countenance,  a  voice  rich,  musical  and  sympathetic, 
gestures  varied  and  forcible,  were  the  outward  elements  of  a  personality 
of  which  the  inward  were  an  exuberant  imagination,  fertile  and  prodi- 
gious mental  resources,  unusual  amplitude,  profuseness  and  brilliancy 
in  speech,  and  an  instinctive  knowledge  of  the  methods  by  which  the 
mind  can  best  be  moved.  Whether  he  addressed  the  dozen  men  of  a 
jury  or  a  thronging  multitude,  he  had  the  power  of  controlling  their 
minds  and  bending  their  thoughts  to  his  will,  while  his  gracious  and 
winning  manners  and  amiable  character  won  him  hosts  of  friends. 
Alike  as  an  advocate  and  as  a  public  orator  he  may  claim  place  among 
the  masters  of  modem  eloquence. 

A  PANEGYRIC  OF  WEBSTER 

[The  death  in  1852  of  the  giant  of  American  oratory,  the  fer-famed  Daniel 
Webster,  called  forth  many  earnest  oratorical  tributes  to  his  public  and  private  char- 
acter and  his  eminent  statennanship.  Of  these  none  are  of  more  interest  than  the 
wotdB  of  prsiwe  and  encomium  of  his  distinguished  friend  and  co-laborer,  Rufus 
Oioate.  This  address  wa«  delivered  at  Dartmouth  College,  the  alma  mater  of  both 
Webster  and  Cboate,  on  the  27th  of  July,  1853.  We  select  from  this  fine  eulogy  a 
pissfflgr  in  which  Webster's  life-long  services  to  his  country  are  summed  up  in  cul- 
itfifaattng  strength  in  a  single  sentence,  certainly  one  of  the  longest  in  the  literature 
of  our  language.] 
102 


RUFUS  CHOATB 


It  was  wfafle  Mr.  Wrfster  w«s  m'*  t  mliw^  tikroqBJk  Ihe 
of  the  legal  pmfrsrion  to  its  hi^Kst  nnk,  dnt,  hy  a  paniki 
display  on >  stage,  and  inpaits  tntafly  distiwi,  by 
and  actions^  he  rose  also  to  be  at  his  deadi  die  ficst  of 
men.  The  last  of  the  mighty  rivals  was  dead  bc&ve,  and  he  stood 
Give  this  a^iect  also  of  his  greatness  a  paswiwg  gjanre.  ffis  pahlic  fife 
began  in  Bfiay.  1813,  in  the  Hoose  of  ScpRseaiatives  in  Cougms,  to 
which  this  State  had  ^ected  him.  It  ended  when  he  died.  Ifjoacscsept 
the  interval  between  his  xemoval  finoai  New  TTiM£fihin  and  his  Section 
in  Massadrasetts,  it  was  a  public  life  <rf^  fbcty  yeacs.  ^  what  pofiticd 
mocality,  and  by  what  cnlaEged  patriotism,  fhrariag  the 
that  life  was  guided,  I  ^nll  covider  hemfter.  IjA  wm 
attention  xatiier  on  the  nagniUide  and  laiieAy  and  actnal  value  <if  ^he 
service.  Consider  that»  firom  tiie  d^  he  wcut  upam  the  OfiMiilu.  of 
F(»reign  Rdations.  in  1S13,  l>^  tinK  of  war,  and  smxc  and  aaone  tihe 
l<xiger  he  lived  and  tibe  hi^^er  he  rose,  he  was  a  nnn  whose  great 
talents  and  devotion  to  public  dnibf  pinoed  and  hept  Ima  in  a  positiowof 
associated  or  sole  couinMad  ;  ooannand  m  the  political  **■»■—*»»«■  to 
which  he  beloi^ged,  command  in  opposition,  coanmnd  in  power;  and 
i^ipteciate  the  le^Mmsibilities  which  that  implifs,  what  caxe,  what  prud- 
ence, what  mastery  of  tiie  vrtiole  gound  vem  tiug  fcr  tibe  cnmhart  of  a 
paity,  as  (^bbon  says  oi  Fox,  ahiKtifs  and  civil  disiTrtion  equal  to  the 
conduct!^  an  empire.  Consider  the  work  he  did  In  ttat  life  of  forty  yeas; 
the  lange  of  subjects  investigated  and  disfWfd  nitwring  the 
theory  and  practice  of  our  organic  and  administiative 
domestic ;  the  vast  body  of  instructive  thou^ght  he  produced  and  put  In 
possession  €^  the  country ;  how  umkA  he  achieved  in  Ouugiehb  as  well  as 
at  the  bar ;  to  fix  the  true  interpretation,  as  wdl  as  to  iaipress  Ae  traas- 
cendent  value  of  the  Constitution  itsdlf,  as  amch  altogether 
or  statesman  ance  its  adoption ;  how  anach  to  esJaWish  in  tibe 
mindtifee  great  doctrine  that  the  Govefaement  of  the  IMled  Sfc^esisa 
government  pif^KT,  established  by  tiie  people  of  the  States,  1 
between  sovereign  coanaumties ;  ttuit  vnddn  its  Hants  it  is 
that  whether  it  is  vrittdn  its  ihnils  or  not,  in  any  given  exertkm  of  itseiC 
is  to  be  determined  by  tiie  Supreme  Court  €ii  the  United  States — the  aiti- 
mate  aibiter  in  the  last  resort,  from  vrhii^  theare  is  no  appeal  hut  to 
levt^tkMi:  how  amidi  he  did  in  the  course  of  the  discussions  whack  grew 
ont  of  the  proposed  nussion  to  Panama,  and,  at  a  later  day,  out  of  the 
tenwval  <^  die  deposits,  to  place  the  Bxecntive  Departoaent  of  the  Govern- 
UKnt  on  its  true  basis  and  under  its  true  fiBaitatnas;  to  secure  to  ttmt 
deportment  all  its  just  powers  ontheqne  hand,  and,  <m  Ae 


104  RUFUS  CHOATE 

vindicate  to  the  Legislative  Department,  and  especially  to  the  Senate,  all 
that  belonged  to  them  ;  to  arrest  the  tendencies  which  he  thought  at  one 
time  threatened  to  substitute  the  government  of  a  single  will,  of  a  single 
person  of  great  force  of  character  and  boundless  popularity,  and  of  a 
numerical  majority  of  the  people — told  by  the  head,  without  intermediate 
institutions  of  any  kind,  judicial  or  senatorial — in  place  of  the  elaborate 
system  of  checks  and  balances,  by  which  the  Constitution  aimed  at  a  govern- 
ment of  laws,  and  not  of  men  ;  how  much,  attracting  less  popular  atten- 
tion, but  scarcely  less  important,  to  complete  the  great  work  which  expe- 
rience had  shown  to  be  left  unfinished  by  the  Judiciary  Act  of  1789,  by 
providing  for  the  punishment  of  all  crimes  against  the  United  States ; 
how  much  for  securing  a  safe  currency  and  a  true  financial  system,  not 
only  by  the  promulgation  of  sound  opinions,  but  by  good  specific  measures 
adopted,  or  bad  ones  defeated  ;  how  much  to  develop  the  vast  material 
resources  of  the  country,  and  push  forward  the  planting  of  the  West — not 
troubled  by  any  fear  of  exhausting  old  States — by  a  liberal  policy  of  public 
lands,  by  vindicating  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  make  or  aid 
in  making  large  classes  of  internal  improvements,  and  by  acting  on  that 
doctrine  uniformly  from  1813,  whenever  a  road  was  to  be  built,  or  a  rapid 
suppressed,  or  a  canal  to  be  opened,  or  a  breakwater  or  a  lighthouse  set 
up  above  or  below  the  flow  of  the  tide,  if  so  far  beyond  the  ability  of  a 
single  State,  or  of  so  wide  utility  to  commerce  or  labor  as  to  rise  to  the 
rank  of  a  work  general  in  its  influences — another  tie  of  union  because 
another  proof  of  the  beneficence  of  union  ;  how  much  to  protect  the  vast 
mechanical  and  manufacturing  interests  of  the  country,  a  value  of  many 
hundreds  of  millions — after  having  been  lured  into  existence  against  his 
counsels,  against  his  science  of  political  economy,  by  a  policy  of  artificial 
encouragement — from  being  sacrificed,  and  the  pursuits  and  plans  of  large 
regions  and  communities  broken  up,  and  the  acquired  skill  of  the  country 
squandered  by  a  sudden  and  capricious  withdrawal  of  the  promise  of  the 
government ;  how  much  for  the  right  performance  of  the  most  delicate 
and  difiicult  of  all  tasks,  the  ordering  of  the  foreign  affairs  of  a  nation, 
free,  sensitive,  self-conscious,  recognizing,  it  is  true,  public  law  and  a 
morality  of  the  State,  binding  on  the  conscience  of  the  State,  yet  aspiring 
to  power,  eminence  and  command,  its  whole  frame  filled  full  and  all  on 
fire  with  American  feeling,  sympathetic  with  liberty  everywhere  ;  how 
much  for  the  right  ordering  of  the  foreign  affairs  of  such  a  State — 
aiming  in  all  its  policy,  from  his  speech  on  the  Greek  question  in  1823 
to  his  letters  to  M.  Hulsemann  in  1850,  to  occupy  the  high,  plain,  yet 
dizzy  ground  which  separates  influence  from  intervention,  to  avow  and 
promulgate  warm,  good  will  to  humanity,  wherever  striving  to  be  free. 


RUFUS  CHOATE  IO5 

to  inquire  authentically  into  the  history  of  its  struggles,  to  take  official 
and  avowed  pains  to  ascertain  the  moment  when  its  success  may  be  recog- 
nized,  consistently,  ever,  with  the   great  code  that  keeps  the  peace  of 
the  w^orld,  abstaining  from  everything  which  shall  give  any  nation  a  right 
under  the  law  of  nations  to  utter  one  word  of  complaint,  still  less  to  retal- 
iate by  war — the  sympathy,  but  also  the  neutrality,  of  Washington  ;  how 
much  to  compose  with  honor  a  concurrence  of  difficulties  with  the  first 
Power  in  the  world,  which  anything  less  than  the  highest  degree  of  discre- 
tion, firmness,  ability,  and  means  of  commanding  respect  and  confidence 
at  home  and  abroad  would  inevitably  have  conducted  to  the  last  calamity 
— a  disputed  boundary  line  of  many  hundred  miles,  from  St.  Croix  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  which  divided  an  exasperated  and  impracticable  border 
population,  enlisted  the  pride  and  affiscted  the  interests  and  controlled  the 
politics  of  particular  States,  as  well  as  pressed  on  the  peace  and  honor  of 
the  nation,  which   the  most  popular  administrations  of  the  era  of  the 
quietest  and  best  public  feelings,  the  times  of  Monroe  and  of  Jackson, 
could  not  adjust ;  which  had  grown  so  complicated  with  other  topics  of 
excitement  that  one  false  step,  right  or  left,  would  have  been  a  step  down 
a  precipice — this  line  settled  for  ever — the  claim  of  England  to  search  our 
ships  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade  silenced  for  ever,  and  a  new 
engagement  entered  into  by  treaty,  binding  the  national  faith  to  contribute 
a  specific  naval  force  for  putting  an  end  to  the  great  crime  of  man — the 
long  practice  of  England  to  enter  an  American  ship  and  impress  from  its 
crew  terminated  for  ever  ;    the  deck   henceforth   guarded  sacredly  and 
completely  by  the  flag  :  how^  much,  by  profound  discernment,  by  eloquent 
speech,  by  devoted  life  to  strengthen  the  ties  of  Union,  and  breathe  the 
fine  and  strong  spirit  of  nationality  through  all  our  numbers  ;  how  much 
most  of  all,  last  of  all,  after  the  war  with  Mexico — needless  if  his  counsels 
had  governed — had  ended  in  so  vast  an  acquisition  of  territory,  in  presenting 
to  the  two  great  antagonistic  sections  of  our  country  so  vast  an  area  to  enter 
on,  so  imperial  a  prize  to  contend  for,  and  the  accursed  fraternal  strife  had 
begun — how  much  then,  when,  rising  to  the  measure  of  a  true,  and  difficult, 
and  rare  greatness,  remembering  that  he  had  a  country  to  save  as  well  as 
a  local  constituency  to  gratify,  laying  all  the  wealth,  all  the  hopes,  of  an 
illustrious  life  on  the  altar  of  a  hazardous  patriotism,  he  sought  and  won 
the  more  exceeding  glory  which  now  attends — which  in  the  next  age  shall 
more  conspicuously  attend — his  name  who  composes  an  agitated  and  saves 
a  sinking  land  ;  recall  this  series  of  conduct  and  influence,  study  them  care- 
fully in  their  facts  and  results — the  reading  of  years — and  you  attain  to  a 
true  appreciation  of  this  aspect  of  his  greatness,  his  public  character  and 
life. 


THOMAS  HART  BENTON  (J 7824 858) 

''OLD  BULLION'^ 


r  T  It  was  in  the  days  of  unlimited  paper  money,  issued  almost 
III  at  random  by  every  wildcat  bank  throughout  the  land,  that 
*  '  Thomas  H.  Benton  won  his  sobriquet  of  "  Old  Bullion,"  by 
his  urgent  advocacy  of  a  currency  of  the  precious  metals,  issued  by 
the  government  alone.  But  perhaps  Benton's  most  prominent  claim  to 
distinction  was  in  the  part  he  bore  in  one  of  the  greatest  parliament- 
ary debates  of  modern  times,  that  between  Hayne  and  Webster  in  1832. 
Benton,  an  advocate  of  the  right  of  State  opposition  to  laws  deemed 
unconstitutional,  though  not  of  nullification,  began  his  debate  by  an 
attack  upon  Massachusetts,  an  assault  which  precipitated  the  mighty 
contest  which  has  been  already  dealt  with  in  our  sketches  of  Webster 
and  Hayne.  Those  were  the  days  of  giants  in  oratory,  and  perhaps 
we  should  add  to  the  names  of  Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun  that  of 
Benton,  as  the  fourth  in  a  great  quartet.  Unlike  the  former  three,  he 
was  a  strong  supporter  of  Jackson,  whom  he  earnestly  sustained  in 
his  suppression  of  the  United  States  Bank  and  in  other  radical  issues. 

In  earlier  years  Benton  was  as  decided  an  enemy  of  Jackson  as 
he  afterward  became  a  friend.  He  quarrelled  with  him  in  1812, 
when  in  command  of  a  regiment  under  him.  In  1813  Jackson 
attempted  to  horsewhip  him  at  Nashville,  and  was  severely  wounded 
by  a  pistol  shot  fired  by  Benton's  brother.  But  all  this  was  forgiven 
in  later  years,  and  the  former  enemies  became  close  friends. 

Born  in  North  Carolina,  Benton  began  to  practice  law  at  Nash- 
ville in  1811,  and  founded  a  political  newspaper  at  St.  Louis  in  1815. 
In  1820  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  from  Missouri,  and  remained  a 
member  of  this  body  for  thirty  years.  He  was  defeated  in  1851,  and 
afterward  served   for  some  years  in   the    House   of  Representatives. 


1 


THOMAS  HART   BENTON  107 

Benton  rendered  a  service  of  the  greatest  value  to  Congress  and  the 
country  by  his  voluminous  work,  entitled  "  A  Thirty  Years'  View,  or 
a  History  of  the  Working  of  the  American  Government  for  Thirty 
Years,  from  1820  to  1850/'  This  most  excellent  history  of  Congress 
was  supplemented  for  the  succeeding  twenty  years  in  a  similar  work 
by  James  G.  Blaine,  the  two  photographing  for  us  a  half  century  of 

Congress.    ' 

SPANNING  THE  CONTINENT 
[In  place  of  offering  our  readers  a  selection  from  Benton's  Congressional 
speeches,  we  prefer  to  give  a  brief  address  on  a  different  topic,  an  eloquent  prevision 
of  a  great  work  that  was  to  be  realized  twenty  years  afterward.  In  1849,  when  this 
address  was  delivered,  the  railroad  in  this  country  had  not  reached  its  twentieth  year 
of  age,  and  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  a  vast  unknown  land,  the  home  of 
the  Indian  and  the  buffalo.  Our  almost  utter  ignorance  of  it  is  indicated  in  the  maps  of 
that  period,  in  which  a  mighty  territory,  now  the  home  of  innumerable  farms,  is  desig- 
nated as  '  *  The  Great  American  Desert. ' '  Yet  Benton's  prophetic  vision  already  saw  the 
railroad  stretching  over  these  unsettled  thousands  of  miles  and  the  iron  horse  careen- 
ing from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  In  this  speech  he  suggested  the  building  of  such 
a  road.  It  then  seemed  like  the  dream  of  a  wild  enthusiast,  yet  we  all  know  how 
amply  his  broad  conception  has  since  then  been  realized.] 

We  live  in  extraordinary  times,  and  are  called  upon  to  elevate  our- 
selves to  the  grandeur  of  the  occasion.  Three  and  a  half  centuries  ago 
the  great  Columbus, — the  man  who  afterward  was  carried  home  in  chains 
from  the  New  World  which  he  discovered, — this  great  Columbus,  in  the 
year  1492,  departed  from  Europe  to  arrive  in  the  east  by  going  to  the 
west.  It  was  a  sublime  conception.  He  was  in  the  line  of  success  when 
the  intervention  of  two  continents,  not  dreamed  of  before,  stopped  his 
progress.  Now,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  mechanical  genius  enables  his 
great  design  to  be  fulfilled. 

In  the  beginning  and  in  the  barbarous  ages  the  sea  was  a  barrier  to 
the  intercourse  of  nations.  It  separated  nations.  Mediaeval  genius 
invented  the  ship,  which  converted  the  barrier  into  a  facility.  Then  land 
.  and  continents  became  an  obstruction.  The  two  Americas  intervening 
prevented  Europe  and  Asia  from  communicating  on  a  straight  line.  For 
three  centuries  and  a  half  this  obstacle  has  frustrated  the  grand  design  of 
Columbus.  Now,  in  our  day,  mechanical  genius  has  again  triumphed 
over  the  obstacles  of  Nature  and  converted  into  a  facility  what  had  so 
long  been  an  impossible  obstruction.  The  steam  car  has  worked  upon 
the  land  among  enlightened  nations  to  a  degree  far  transcending  the  mira- 
cle which  the  ship  in  barbarous  ages  worked  upon  the  ocean.  The  land 
has  now  become  a  facility  for  the  most  distant  communication,  a  convey- 
ance being  invented  which  annihilates  both  time  and  space.    We  hold  the 


108  THOMAS  HART  BENTON 

intervening  land  ;  we  hold  the  obstacle  which  stopped  Columbus  ;  we  are 
in  the  line  between  Europe  and  Asia  ;  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  remove 
that  obstacle  ;  to  convert  it  into  a  facility  to  carry  him  on  to  this  land  of 
promise  and  of  hope  with  a  rapidity  and  a  safety  unknown  to  all  ocean 
navigation. 

A  king  and  a  queen  started  him  upon  his  great  enterprise.  It  is  in  the 
hands  of  a  republic  to  complete  it.  It  is  in  our  hands,  in  the  hands  of  us, 
the  people  of  the  United  States  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Let  us  raise  ourselves  up.  Let  us  rise  to  the  grandeur  of  the  occasion. 
Let  us  repeat  the  grand  design  of  Columbus  by  putting  Europe  and  Asia 
into  communication,  and  that  to  our  advantage,  through  the  heart  of  our 
country.  Let  us  give  to  his  ships  a  continued  course  unknown  to  all 
former  times.  Let  us  make  an  iron  road,  and  make  it  from  sea  to  sea ; 
States  and  individuals  making  it  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  nation 
making  it  west.  Let  us  now,  in  this  convention,  rise  above  everything 
sectional.  Let  us  beseech  the  national  legislature  to  build  a  great  road 
upon  the  great  national  line  which  unites  Europe  and  Asia ;  the  line 
which  will  find  on  our  continent  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  for  one  end, 
St.  Louis  in  the  middle,  and  the  great  national  metropolis  and  emporium 
at  the  other ;  and  which  shall  be  adorned  with  its  crowning  honor,  the 
colossal  statue  of  the  great  Columbus,  whose  design  it  accomplishes, 
hewn  from  the  granite  mass  of  a  peak  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  moun- 
tain itself  the  pedestal  and  the  statue  a  part  of  the  mountain,  pointing 
with  outstretched  hand  to  the  western  horizon,  and  saying  to  the  flying 
passengers,  "  There  is  East ;  there  is  India." 


THOMAS  CORWIN  (1 794- J 865) 

THE  OHIO  CAMPAIGN  SPEAKER 


mHERE  are  men  who  need  a  great  occasion  to  rouse  them  to  a 
great  action.  Of  such  was  Thomas  Corwin,  a  man  who,  when 
stirred  to  his  depths  by  some  strong  impelling  cause,  was  capa- 
ble of  a  fine  outburst  of  oratory,  yet  who  usually  lacked  the  sustain- 
ing force  to  keep  him  long  at  a  high  level  of  speech  and  thought. 
He  lived  at  a  time  when  the  gifted  public  speaker  rose  rapidly  into  prom- 
inence and  exercised  the  greatest  influence  among  his  constituency. 
His  greatest  effort  by  far  was  his  speech  on  the  Mexican  War,  which 
one  writer  characterizes  as  "  one  of  the  most  memorable  speeches  ever 
delivered  in  America,"  and  as  the  basis  of  his  reputation  as  an  orator. 
Corwin,  born  in  Kentucky  in  1794,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Ohio 
about  1818,  and  soon  gained  celebrity  as  a  lawyer  and  orator.  He 
was  elected  to  Congress  in  1830,  became  Governor  of  Ohio  in  1840, 
and  was  a  United  States  Senator  from  1845  to  1850.  In  1840  he 
actively  supported  General  Harrison  for  the  Presidency  by  numerous 
speeches  at  mass-meetings,  to  which  his  popular  style  of  oratory  was 
especially  adapted.  In  1850  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury by  President  Fillmore.  His  later  public  service  was  as  member 
of  Congress  from  1858  to  1861,  and  Minister  to  Mexico  from  1861  to 
1864.     He  returned  home  to  die  in  December,  1865. 

THE  DISMEMBERMENT  OF  MEXICO 
[The  Mexican  War  was  essentially  a  Southern  measure,  and  was  strongly- 
opposed  by  many  of  the  people  of  the  North.  One  of  its  chief  purposes  was  the 
acquirement  of  new  territory  for  the  extension  of  slavery,  a  purpose  which  was  not 
disguised  in  the  South.  The  new  territory  was  acquired,  but  slavery  failed  to  obtain 
a  footing  in  it.  Among  those  who  opposed  the  war  Corwin  was  one  of  the  most 
ardent  and  earnest,  and  his  celebrated  speech  of  February  ii,  1847,  was  much  the 
ablest  effort  made  by  the  opposition.  From  this  we  select  his  views  concerning  the 
proposed  acquisition  of  Mexican  territory.] 

109 


no  THOMAS  CORWm 

What  is  the  territory,  Mr.  President,  which -you  propose  to  wrest  from 
Mexico  ?  It  is  consecrated  to  the  heart  of  the  Mexican  by  many  a  well- 
fought  battle  with  his  old  Castilian  master.  His  Bunker  Hills  and  Sara- 
togas and  Yorktowns  are  there  !  The  Mexican  can  say,  "  There  I  bled 
for  liberty  !  and  shall  I  surrender  that  consecrated  home  of  my  affections 
to  the  Anglo-Saxon  invaders  ?  What  do  they  want  with  it  ?  They  have 
Texas  already.  They  have  possessed  themselves  of  the  territory  between 
the  Nueces  and  the  Rio  Grande.  What  else  do  they  want  ?  To  what 
shall  I  point  my  children  as  memorials  of  that  independence  which  I 
bequeath  to  them,  when  those  battlefields  shall  have  passed  from  my  pos- 
session ?  ' ' 

Sir,  had  one  come  and  demanded  Bunker  Hill  of  the  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts, had  England's  lion  ever  showed  himself  there,  is  there  a  man 
over  thirteen  and  under  ninety  who  would  not  have  been  ready  to  meet 
him  ?  Is  there  a  river  on  this  continent  that  would  not  have  run  red  with 
blood  ?  Is  there  a  field  but  would  have  been  piled  high  with  unburied 
bones  of  slaughtered  Americans  before  these  consecrated  battlefields  of 
liberty  should  have  been  wrested  from  us  ?  But  this  same  American  goes 
into  a  sister  Republic,  and  says  to  poor,  weak  Mexico,  "  Give  up  your 
territory,  you  are  unworthy  to  possess  it ;  I  have  got  one-half  already, 
and  all  I  ask  of  you  is  to  give  up  the  other  !  "  England  might  as  well, 
in  the  circumstances  I  have  described,  have  come  and  demanded  of  us, 
"  Give  up  the  Atlantic  slope — give  up  this  trifling  territory  from  the  Alle- 
gheny Mountains  to  the  sea  ;  it  is  only  from  Maine  to  St.  Mary's — only 
about  one-third  of  your  Republic,  and  the  least  interesting  portion  of  it." 
What  would  be  the  response  ?  They  would  say  we  must  give  this  up  to 
John  Bull.  Why?  '*He  wants  room,"  The  Senator  from  Michigan 
says  he  must  have  this.  Why,  my  worthy  Christian  brother ;  on  what 
principle  of  justice  ?     "I  want  room  !  " 

Sir,  look  at  this  pretense  of  want  of  room.  With  twenty  millions  of 
people,  you  have  about  one  thousand  millions  of  acres  of  land,  inviting  set- 
tlement by  every  conceivable  argument,  bringing  them  down  to  a  quarter 
of  a  dollar  an  acre,  and  allowing  every  man  to  squat  where  he  pleases. 
But  the  Senator  from  Michigan  says  we  will  be  two  hundred  millions  in  a 
few  years,  and  we  want  room.  If  I  were  a  Mexican  I  would  tell  you, 
' '  Have  you  not  room  enough  in  your  own  country  to  bury  your  dead  ? 
If  you  come  into  mine  we  will  greet  you  with  bloody  hands,  and  welcome 
you  to  hospitable  graves." 

Why,  says  the  Chairman  of  this  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  it 
is  the  most  reasonable  thing  in  the  world  !  We  ought  to  have  the  Bay  of 
San  Francisco  !     Why  ?     Because  it  is  the  best  harbor  in  the  Pacific  !     It 


i 


^y^'j^^ 


THOMAS  CORWm  V  111 

has  been  my  fortune,  Mr.  President,  to  have  practiced  a  good  deal  in 
criminal  courts  in  the  course  of  my  life,  but  I  never  yet  heard  a  thief, 
arraigned  for  stealing  a  horse,  plead  that  it  was  the  best  horse  he  could 
find  in  the  country  !  We  want  California.  What  for  ?  Why,  says  the 
Senator  from  Michigan,  we  will  have  it ;  and  the  Senator  from  South 
Carolina,  with  a  very  mistaken  view,  I  think,  of  policy,  says  you  can't 
keep  our  people  from  going  there.  I  don't  desire  to  prevent  them.  I^et 
them  go  and  seek  their  happiness  in  whatever  country  or  clime  it  pleases 
them.  All  I  ask  of  them  is,  not  to  require  this  government  to  protect 
them  with  that  banner  consecrated  to  war  waged  for  principles — eternal, 
enduring  truth.  Sir,  it  is  not  meet  that  our  old  flag  should  throw  its 
protecting  folds  over  expeditions  for  lucre  or  for  land.  But  you  still  say 
you  want  room  for  your  people.  This  has  been  the  plea  of  every  robber 
chief  from  Nimrod  to  the  present  hour.  I  dare  say,  when  Tamerlane 
descended  from  his  throne,  built  of  seventy  thousand  human  skulls,  and 
marched  his  ferocious  battalions  to  further  slaughter, — I  dare  say  he  said, 
"  I  want  room."  Bajazet  was  another  gentleman  of  kindred  tastes  and 
wants  with  us  Anglo-Saxons — he  ''  wanted  room."  Alexander,  too,  the 
mighty  **  Macedonian  madman,"  when  he  wandered  with  his  Greeks  to 
the  plains  of  India,  and  fought  a  bloody  battle  on  the  very  ground  where 
recently  England  and  the  Sikhs  engaged  in  strife  for  "  room,"  was,  no 
doubt,  in  quest  of  some  California  there.  Many  a  Monterey  had  he  to 
storm  to  get  "  room."  Sir,  he  made  as  much  of  that  sort  of  history  as 
you  ever  will. 

Mr.  President,  do  you  remember  the  last  chapter  in  that  history  ?  It 
is  soon  read.  Ah,  I  wish  we  could  but  understand  its  moral.  Ammon's 
son  (so  was  Alexander  named)  after  all  his  victories,  died  drunk  in  Baby- 
lon !  The  vast  empire  he  conquered  to  ''  get  room,"  became  the  prey  of 
the  generals  he  had  trained  ;  it  was  dismembered,  torn  to  pieces,  and  so 
ended.  Sir,  there  is  a  very  significant  appendix  ;  it  is  this  :  The  descend- 
ants of  the  Greeks,  Alexander's  Greeks,  are  now  governed  by  a  descend- 
ant of  Attila  !  Mr.  President,  while  we  are  fighting  for  room,  let  us 
ponder  deeply  this  appendix.  I  was  somewhat  amazed  the  other  day  to 
hear  the  Senator  from  Michigan  declare  that  Europe  had  quite  forgotten 
us,  till  these  battles  waked  them  up.  I  suppose  the  Senator  feels  grateful 
to  the  President  for  "  waking  up  "  Europe.  Does  the  President,  who  is, 
I  hope,  read  in  civic  as  well  as  military  lore,  remember  the  saying  of  one 
who  had  pondered  upon  history  long ;  long,  too,  upon  man,  his  nature, 
and  true  destiny.  Montesquieu  did  not  think  highly  of  this  way  of 
"waking  up."  "  Happy,"  says  he,  "is  that  nation  whose  annals  are 
tiresome..' ' 


JOHN  I  CRITTENDEN  (J 7874 863) 

THE  EULOGIST  OF  HENRY  CLAY 


mENRY  CLAY  did  not  live  without  an  apostle  and  did  not  die 
without  an  eulogist.  Without  many  such,  we  might  say,  but 
we  are  concerned  here  with  one  in  particular,  like  him  a  Ken- 
tucky Senator,  through  life  his  warm  friend  and  ardent  supporter,  and 
after  death  his  most  eloquent  extoller.  Among  the  oratorical  efforts 
of  John  Jordan  Crittenden,  his  eulogy  of  Henry  Clay  is  usually 
looked  upon  as  the  finest  example  of  his  powers,  though  it  was  by 
no  means  the  only  time  he  rose  to  a  high  level  of  dignified  eloquence. 
Crittenden,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  early  gained  distinction  as  a 
legal  advocate  of  unusual  powers,  and  became  so  prominent  in  the 
political  field  that  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  at 
thirty  years  of  age.  He  was  appointed  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States  by  President  Harrison  in  1841,  and  by  President  Fillmore  in 
1850,  and  was  elected  Governor  of  Kentucky  in  1848.  In  1861  he 
attempted  to  mediate  between  North  and  South,  offering  a  series  of 
resolutions  known  as  the  Crittenden  Compromise. 

THE  STRONG  AGAINST  THE  WEAK 
[On  the  I5tli  of  February,  1859,  Mr.  Crittenden  made  in  the  Senate  one  of  his 
ablest  and  most  eloquent  speeches,  its  subject  being  the  proposed  acquisition  of  Cuba 
by  the  United  States.  It  was  not  the  first  movement  in  that  direction.  President 
Polk  had  made  an  offer  to  Spain  in  1848  to  purchase  Cuba  for  the  sum  of  $1,000,000. 
Ten  years  later  President  Buchanan  made  a  similar  proposition  to  the  Senate,  the  sum 
now  named  being  $30,000,000.  It  led  to  an  animated  discussion,  which  ended  in  its 
withdrawal.  One  of  the  most  earnest  opponents  of  the  scheme,  and  of  the  message 
of  the  President,  in  connection  therewith,  was  Senator  Crittenden.  We  subjoin  an 
extract  from  his  speech,  in  which  he  strongly  assails  the  arbitrary  methods  of  our 
government  dealings  with  the  weaker  States  of  America.] 

At  the  close  of  the  great  wars  of  Europe,  when  Spain  solicited  assist- 
ance to  resubjugate  her  South  American  colonies,  when  their  menacing 
reached  the  ears  of  the  rulers  of  this  country,  what  was  done^     It  was 
112 


JOHN  j.  CRITTENDEN  113 

the  mightiest  question  that  had  been  presented  to  the  world  in  this  cen- 
tury, whether  South  America  should  be  europeanized  and  fall  under  the 
European  system  of  government  and  policy,  or  whether  it  should  be 
americanized  according  to  the  American  system  of  republics.  What  a 
mighty  question  was  it  !  By  kindness,  by  encouragement,  by  offers  of 
unlimited  kindness  and  protection,  we  won  their  hearts,  and  they  fell  into 
our  system.  They  gave  us  all  their  sympathy  ;  but  now,  where  has  it 
gone  ?  Read  the  last  message  of  the  President,  and  consider  the  troubled 
state  of  our  relations  with  these  states  which  it  depicts.  There  is  not  a 
state  where  we  do  not  find  enemies,  where  our  citizens  are  free  from  vio- 
lence, where  their  property  is  not  taken  from  them.  It  seems  that  the 
persons  and  property  of  our  citizens  are  exposed  continually  to  daily  vio- 
lence in  every  State  of  South  America  with  which  we  have  relations.  It 
is  so,  too,  in  Mexico  and  Guatemala  and  Costa  Rica  and  the  various 
States  of  Central  America. 

How  has  it  been  that  this  state  of  things  has  been  brought  about? 
How  has  it  been  that  we  have  lost  that  mighty  acquisition, — an  acquisition, 
not  of  territory,  but  an  acquisition  of  the  hearts  of  men  ;  an  acquisition 
of  the  hearts  of  nations,  ready  to  follow  our  lead,  to  stand  by  us  in  a  com- 
mon cause,  to  fight  the  world,  if  it  were  necessary  ?  That  great  golden 
chain  that  bound  freemen  together  from  one  end  of  the  North  to  the  end 
of  the  South  American  continent  has  been  broken  in  a  thousand  pieces  ; 
and  the  message  tells  us  the  sad  tale  that  we  are  everywhere  treated  with 
enmity  and  hostility,  and  that  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  avenge  it. 

We  are  gathering  up  little  accounts  with  these  nations  ;  we  are  mak- 
ing quarrels  with  them.  They  have  done  us  some  wrong  ;  practiced  some 
enmity  against  our  citizens  ;  taken  some  property  that  they  ought  not  to 
have  taken  ;  and,  besides,  we  have  claims  against  them.  From  the  Fiji 
Islands  to  the  Spanish  throne  we  have  demands  to  be  urged  ;  and  I 
think  we  are  coming  to  a  very  summary  process  of  collection,  where  no 
Congress  is  to  sit  to  examine  into  the  casus  belli,  but  a  ship  of  war,  better 
than  all  the  constables  in  the  world,  is  to  go  around  collecting,  from  the 
cannibals  and  others,  whatever  she  is  commissioned  to  say  is  due  to  us. 

What  peace  can  we  have,  what  good-will  can  we  have  among  men,  if 
we  are  to  depart  from  the  noble  course  which  governed  our  forefathers, 
who  had  no  quarrels  but  those  which  they  could  make  a  fight  out  of,  and 
ought  to  have  made  a  fight  out  of,  directly  and  at  once,  and  be  done  with 
them  ?  Do  all  these  little  clouds  or  specks  of  war  that  darken  our  horizon 
promise  additional  prosperity,  or  an  increase  of  revenue  to  meet  our  debts  ? 
No,  sir.     If  they  portray  anything,  they  portray  the  contrary — increased 

expenditures 

8 


,114  JOHN  J.  CRITTEiSIDEN 

Here,  in  view  of  all  this,  we  propose  to  let  the  President  make  w^ar 
as  he  pleases.  The  Constitution  says  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
shall  have  the  power  to  make  war.  Has  anybody  else  the  power  to  make 
war  but  we  and  the  House  of  Representatives  ?  Is  it  a  littk  inferior 
jurisdiction  that  we  can  transfer  and  delegate  to  others  ?  Did  the  Consti- 
tution intend  that  the  President  should  exercise  it  ?  No  ;  it  gave  it  to  us, 
and  in  the  balance  of  powers  just  as  much  denied  it  to  the  President  as  it 
gave  it  to  us.  We  subvert  the  whole  system  of  our  Government ;  the 
whole  constitutional  framework  of  it  is  a  wreck  if  you  take  this  most 
dangerous  and  most  important  of  all  powers  and  put  it  in  the  hands  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  Can  you  abdicate  this  power  which  the 
people  have  given  you  as  their  trustees  !  You  cannot  do  it.  Does  this 
bill  do  it  ? 

To  be  sure,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  right  of  summary  redress  is 
limited  to  weak  States.  There  seems  to  be  some  saving  understanding 
upon  the  part  of  the  framers  of  this  policy  that  it  would  not  be  applicable 
to  large  States.  Some  trouble,  some  resistance,  might  be  anticipated  from 
them  ;  but  you  can  safely  thunder  it  over  the  heads  of  these  poor  little 
South  American  states  ;  you  can  make  them  tremble  ;  you  can  settle  the 
accounts,  and  make  them  pay  your  own  balances.  Sir,  what  sort  of  hero- 
ism is  that  for  your  country  and  my  country,  to  triumph  over  the  small 
and  the  weak  ?  The  bill  on  which  I  am  commenting  does  not  suppose 
that  war  is  to  require  formal  debate,  but  proposes,  whenever  it  shall  be 
made  to  appear  to  the  President  that  an  American  citizen,  in  any  of  these 
countries,  has  been  the  subject  of  violence  or  depredation  in  his  property, 
to  allow  the  President,  at  his  ipse  dixit,  to  make  w;ar.  Unheard,  unques- 
tioned, at  once  the  will  of  a  single  man  is  to  let  loose  the  dogs  of  war 
against  these  small,  weak  nations.  It  is  a  violation  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Constitution  ;  and,  besides,  there  is  a  pettiness  about  it  that  does  not 
belong  to  our  country.  Surely  it  was  in  a  thoughtless  moment  that  the 
President  intimated  the  necessity  of  such  a  measure,  or  that  it  was  intro- 
duced into  the  Senate.  There  is  nothing  in  it  that  can  stand  investiga- 
tion. It  is  not  more  uncongenial  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
than  it  is,  I  trust,  to  the  magnanimous  character  of  my  countrymen,  that 
they  should  be  willing  to  hunt  out  the  little  and  the  weak  and  chastise 
them,  and  let  the  great  go  free,  or  leave  them  to  ordinary  solemn  course 
of  proceeding,  by  treaty  or  by  congressional  legislation.  No,  sir ;  far 
better  is  the  maxim  of  the  old  Roman — debellare  super  bos  y  to  put  down 
the  proud. 


THOMAS  R  MARSHALL  (J 800- J 864) 

A  KENTUCKY  WIT  AND  ORATOR 


B 


|LD  KAINTUCK,"  to  give  the  blue-grass  State  its  vernacular 
appellation,  can  boast  at  least  three  orators  of  national  fame 
belonging  to  the  period  under  consideration  —Henry  Clay, 
Thomas  F.  Marshall,  and  John  J.  Crittenden,  the  last  two  native 
sons  of  the  soil.  Marshall,  the  one  of  this  trio  with  whom  we  are  at 
present  concerned,  was  gifted  with  unusual  fluency  and  command  of 
language,  equalling  in  this  respect,  in  his  best  efforts,  Henry  Clay 
himself.  He  was  distinguished  alike  for  wit  and  oratory,  and  though 
his  Congressional  career  was  very  brief — from  1841  to  1843 — it  was 
embellished  by  numerous  speeches  of  remarkable  brilliancy.  His 
power  of  oratory  made  him  very  successful  at  the  bar  and  in  the 
political  campaign  field,  and  on  his  efforts  in  the  latter  his  reputation 
as  an  orator  largely  rests.  In  his  days  the  method  of  Congressional 
reporting  was  not  of  the  best,  and  he  in  particular  was  so  aggrieved 
by  the  way  in  which  his  remarks  were  mangled,  that  he  rose  in  the 
House  and  indignantly  demanded  that  his  speeches  should  not  be 
reported  at  all.  His  legal  career  was  passed  at  Louisville,  where  for 
a  time  he  served  as  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  where  he  died, 
September  22,  1864. 

THE  STATES  AND  THE  CENTRAL  GOVERNMENT 
[Of  Marshall's  Congressional  speeches,  the  only  one  that  seems  to  have  been 
adequately  reported  was  that  of  July  6,  184 1,  on  a  Bill  to  dispose  of  the  Proceeds  of 
Sales  of  Public  Lands.  His  remarks  on  the  relations  of  the  States  to  the  Central  Gov- 
ernment, and  their  mutual  stability,  are  of  deep  interest,  and  stamp  Marshall  as  an 
equally  strong  Unionist  with  Clay  and  Crittenden.] 

Whence,  Mr.  Chairman,  springs  this  jealousy  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, and  whither  does  it  tend  ?  One  would  imagine  that  it  was  created 
but  to  be  feared  and  watched.     It  is  treated  as  something  naturally  and 

115 


116  THOMAS  F.  MARSHALL 

necessarily  hostile  and  dangerous  to  the  States  and  the  people.  The 
powers  with  which  it  is  armed  are  considered  but  as  so  many  instruments 
of  destruction.  It  is  represented  as  a  great  central  mass,  charged  with 
poison  and  death,  attracting  everything  within  its  sphere,  and  polluting 
or  destroying  everything  which  it  attracts.  It  is  represented  as  something 
foreign  and  inimical,  whose  constant  and  necessary  policy  it  is  to  bow 
the  sovereign  crests  of  these  States  at  the  footstool  of  its  own  power  by 
force,  or  to  conquer  and  debase  them  into  stipendiaries  and  vassals  by 
bribes  and  corruption.  Sir,  while  I  listened  to  the  impassioned  invective 
of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  I  felt  my  mind  inflaming  against  this 
mortal  and  monstrous  foe,  meditating  such  foul  designs  against  public 
virtue  and  public  liberty. 

But  the  question  recurred  :  What  is  this  government,  and  who  are 
we.?  Is  Kentucky  to  be  bought  and  sold,  that  she  may  be  corrupted  and 
enslaved?  Are  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia — all — all — to  be 
brought  under  the  hammer  and  struck  off — honor,  independence,  freedom 
— all  at  a  stroke  ?  And  who  the  auctioneer  ?  Who  the  purchaser  ?  Their 
own  representatives,  freely  chosen  and  entirely  responsible?  Nay,  sir, 
they  are  doubly  represented  in  this  government,  so  bent  upon  their 
destruction.  We  come  fresh  from  the  hands  of  the  people  themselves, 
soon  to  return  our  account  for  our  conduct.  Those  in  the  other  end  of 
the  Capitol  represent  the  States  as  sovereign.  Strange  violation  of  all 
natural  order,  that  we  should  plot  the  ruin  of  those  whose  breath  is  our 
life,  whose  independence  and  safety  are  our  glory.  Whither  does  this 
jealousy  tend  ?  Are  the  States  only  safe  in  alienation  from,  and  enmity 
to,  their  common  head  ?  Are  we  most  to  dread  the  national  authority 
when  exerted  most  beneficially  upon  State  interests  ?  Sir,  what  can  this 
mean,  and  to  what  does  it  tend,  save  dismemberment  ?  Why  continue  a 
government  whose  only  power  is  for  mischief;  which,  to  be  innocent, 
must  be  inert;  and  which,  where  most  it  seems  to  favor  and  to  bless, 
means  the  more  insidiously,  but  the  more  surely,  to  corrupt  and  to 
destroy  ? 

I  can  understand  why  a  Consolidationist,  if  there  be  such  a  foe  to 
reason  and  to  liberty,  or  an  early  Federalist,  feeling  an  overwrought 
jealousy  of  the  State  sovereignties,  and  dreading  the  uniform  tendency  of 
confederated  republics  to  dismemberment  and  separation,  should  feel 
unwilling  to  part  with  the  power  of  internal  improvement,  and  grant  the 
revenue  necessary  to  its  exertion  along  with  the  power.  I  can  under- 
stand why  such  an  one,  stretching  his  vision  forward  to  that  period  when 
a  sum  approximating  to  the  national  debt  of  England  shall  have  been 
expended  in  State  authority,  and  the  State  governments,  surrounded  with 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

The    famous    "Gettysburg   Speech"   and   the   equally  famous 
?•     Debates  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas  won  for  Abraham  Lincoln  a 
high  rank  in  American  Oratory, 


THOMAS  F.  MARSHALL  117 

corporations  of  their  own  creation  and  invested  in  perpetuity  with  the 
revenues  in  future  to  be  derived  from  this  vast  and  most  profitable 
expenditure,  shall  swell  into  populous,  opulent  and  potent  nations,  the 
people  waking  up  to  them  as  the  source  from  whence  the  facilities  of  com- 
merce have  been  derived, — I  can  understand  that  such  an  one  might 
apprehend  that,  under  these  circumstances,  the  more  distant  orb,  the  cen- 
tral sun,  would  grow  dim  and  lose  its  just  proportions  to  the  planets 
which  were  destined  to  wheel  round  it.  But  how  a  States  Rights  man, 
one  whose  jealousies  are  all  in  the  other  direction,  who  dreads,  from  the 
centripetal  tendency,  the  absorption  of  the  smaller  bodies  and  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  system, — how  such  an  one  can  see  aught  in  this  bill  to 
threaten  the  power  and  independence  of  the  States  passes  my  under- 
standing. 

For  my  part  I  see  no  danger  on  either  hand.  I  see  power,  inde- 
pendence, and  ample  revenues  for  the  States;  but,  as  they  swell,  the 
nation  which  they  compose  cannot  dwindle.  The  resources  of  the 
National  Treasury  expand  in  exact  proportion  to  the  expansion  of  the 
population,  the  wealth,  the  commerce,  and  the  consumption  of  the  States. 
Indeed,  sir,  as  a  mere  measure  of  national  finance,  as  a  far-sighted  means 
of  deepening  the  sources,  the  exclusive  and  peculiar  sources,  into  which 
the  States  are  forbidden  to  dip,  and  from  whence  they  as  governments  can- 
not drink,  I  should  vote  for  this  measure.  Imagine  the  vast  wilderness 
turned  into  cultivation,  eight  hundred  millions  of  acres  of  fertile  land 
teeming  with  people,  studded  with  cities,  and  intersected  and  connected 
by  highways  and  canals  ;  compute  the  consumption,  if  you  can  ;  imagine 
the  revenue  to  be  derived  from  it ;  concede,  what  is  manifest,  that,  as  the 
revenue  increases,  the  burdens  on  commerce  will  diminish  ;  and  tell  rue — 
no,  sir,  you  will  not  tell  me — that  the  effect  of  this  bill  is  to  weaken  the 
national  powers  or  to  oppress  the  people. 

[Mr.  Marshall  goes  on  to  assert  that  peace  is  the  natural  policy  of  this  country, 
and  this  policy  is  likely  to  be  strengthened  rather  than  invalidated  by  the  increase  in 
power  and  wealth.  He  refers  to  the  demand  of  Mr.  Wise,  of  Virginia,  that  New  York 
should  protect  itself  against  certain  Canadian  encroachments  upon  its  territory  by  its 
own  power,  and  continues  :] 

If  wrong  has  been  done.  New  York  has  surer  remedy  in  the  united 
and  constitutional  guarantee  of  twenty-six  States  than  she  could  find  in 
her  own  arm,  potent  as  it  is.  The  soil  of  New  York  is  the  soil  of  the 
United  States  ;  the  citizens  of  New  York  are  citizens  of  the  United  States ; 
the  right  and  the  power,  constitutional  and  physical,  have  been  surren- 
dered to  this  Government  to  settle  all  questions  touching  the  safety  of 
either,  in  their  collision  with  other  countries,  whether  by  negotiation  or 


118  THOMAS  F.  MARSHALL 

the  sterner  arbitrament  of  the  sword That  the  rights  and  the  honor 

of  New  York  are  secure  from  violation  or  insult  in  the  hands  where 
the  Constitution  has  placed  them,  I  should  deem  it  akin  to  treason  to 
doubt.  Her  rights,  her  honor,  her  territory,  are  the  rights,  the  honor, 
the  territory  of  the  United  States.  She  is  part  of  my  country.  She  is 
covered  by  the  imperial  flag ;  overshadowed,  every  inch  of  her,  by  the 
wings  of  the  imperial  eagle  ;  protected  by  his  beak  and  talons.  For  these 
sentiments  I  may  be  permitted  to  answer  lor  at  least  one  State  in  the 
Union.  Kentucky  is  placed  securely  in  the  centre.  So  long  as  this  Gov- 
ernment lasts,  her  soil  is  virgin  and  safe  from  the  imprint  of  a  hostile  foot. 
Her  fields — thanks  to  the  wisdom  of  our  ancestors,  the  goodness  of  God, 
and  the  guardian  power  of  this  imperial  Republic — her  fields  can  never  be 
wasted  by  ravage,  her  hearths  can  never  taste  of  military  violation.  She 
knows  full  well  the  source  of  her  security,  the  shield  of  her  liberties.  .  .  . 
The  frontier  of  New  York  is  her  frontier  ;  the  Atlantic  seaboard  is  her 
seaboard  ;  and.  the  millions  expended  in  defending  the  one  or  the  other 
she  regards  as  expended  for  herself.  A  blow  aimed  at  New  York  is  a 
blow  aimed  at  herself ;  an  indignity  or  an  outrage  inflicted  on  any  State 
in  this  Union  is  inflicted  upon  the  whole  and  upon  each.  To  submit  to 
such  were  to  sacrifice  her  independence  and  her  freedom — to  make  all 
other  blessings  valueless,  all  other  property  insecure.  Not  all  the  unset- 
tled property  of  the  Union,  in  full  property  and  jurisdiction,  could  bribe 
her  to  such  a  sacrifice. 


BOOK  IIL 

Orators  of  the  Civil  War  Period 

FOLLOWING  the  period  which  was  so  largely 
dominated  by  the  slavery  controversy,  and  was 
distinguished  by  a  brilliant  galaxy  of  Congres- 
sional and  popular  orators,  came  four  years  of  war, 
the  logical  result  of  the  slavery  contest  and  the  fiercest 
and  most  destructive  conflict  of  recent  times.  This 
was  followed  by  a  decade  of  reconstruction,  during 
which  the  warfare  of  opinion  was  as  virulent  in  its 
way  as  had  been  that  of  the  combat  in  the  field.  In 
all  this  was  plentiful  food  for  oratory.  In  the  few 
years  preceding  the  war,  when  the  coming  conflict 
impended  over  the  land  like  a  dark  thunder  cloud 
whose  lightnings  were  for  a  while  withheld,  the  voice 
of  the  orator  was  heard  in  the  land,  dealing  stren- 
uously with  the  threatening  issues  which  were  soon 
to  burst  out  in  devastating  storm,  and  after  the  war 
had  ended  and  the  thunder  of  the  cannon  was  hushed, 
new  and  momentous  questions  arose.  The  States 
which  had  voted  themselves  out  of  the  Union,  and 
had  failed  to  win  independence  by  the  sword,  were 
left  in  an  anomalous  situation.  That  they  must  event- 
ually be  restored  to  the  Union  was,  in  the  sentiment  of 
the  American  people,  a  foregone  conclusion,  but  the 
conditions  of  their  restoration,  the  principles  upon 
which  reconstruction  would  be  based,  remained  to  be 
determined.  The  halls  of  Congress  again  became 
the  arena  of  verbal  tournaments,  and  stirring  orations 
upon  vital  subjects  of  political  expediency  were  once 
more  the  order  of  the  day.  The  finest  orations  of 
the  period  under  review,  however,  belong  to  the  period 
preceding  the  shock  of  arms  rather  than  to  that  which 
succeeded  it. 

119 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  (J 809- J 865) 

THE  MARTYR  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR 


mHE  two  vital  periods  of  American  history,  that  in  which  the 
people  were  struggling  for  independence  and  the  formation  of 
a  stable  Union,  and  that  in  which  they  were  fighting  for  the 
preservation  of  this  Union,  were  marked  by  two  men  of  sublime  alti- 
tude, as  compared  with  their  fellows, — Washington,  the  hero  of  the 
Revolution,  and  Lincoln,  the  presiding  genius  of  the  Civil  War. 
These  two  men,  whom  future  history  is  likely  to  place  on  pedestals 
equally  high,  and  to  regard  with  equal  veneration,  were  men  of 
different  aspect  and  character.  Washington  was  stately,  dignified,  a 
man  sufficient  unto  himself,  commanding  the  respect  and  admiration 
rather  than  the  personal  affection,  of  the  people.  Lincoln  was  simple 
and  approachable,  a  man  full  of  "  the  milk  of  human  kindness,"  one 
who,  while  he  also  was  respected  and  admired,  was  loved  as  well. 
In  truth,  no  other  man  ever  reached  the  topmost  summit  of  our  politi- 
cal structure  while  remaining  so  near  to  the  hearts  of  the  people  as 
the  simple-minded,  great-souled,  gentle-natured  Abraham  Lincoln, 
the  earnest,  honest,  genial  Father  Abraham  of  slave  and  freemen  alike. 
Lincoln  in  the  fullest  sense  began  life  at  the  bottom  and  climbed 
to  the  top.  Where  he  got  his  genius  it  is  not  easy  to  say,  but  genius 
of  a  high  and  original  type  he  possessed.  He  was  one  of  those  men 
whom  the  conditions  of  life,  however  adverse,  could  not  keep  down. 
Step  by  step  his  course  was  upward,  until  he  rose  from  the  ablest  man 
of  a  neighborhood  to  the  Republican  leadership  of  his  State,  and  from 
that  to  the  highest  position  in  the  gift  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States. 

In  1858  took  place  that  memorable  contest  for  the  Senatorship 
with  Douglas  to  which  he  owed  the  national  reputation  which  two 

120 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  121 

years  later  brought  him  the  Republican  nomination  for  President. 
The  versatility,  the  depth,  the  comprehensiveness  of  Lincoln's  mind 
were  first  fully  revealed  in  this  oratorical  contest,  and  his  position  as 
the  natural  leader  of  the  anti-slavery  hosts  became  assured.  '^A  house 
divided  against* itself  cannot  stand,"  he  said.  ''I  believe  this  country 
cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.  It  will  become 
all  one  thing  or  all  the  other."  The  march  of  events  soon  made  his 
words  good.  The  country  went  to  war  to  make  it  ''all  the  one  thing 
or  all  the  other,"  and  Abraham  Lincoln  was  selected  as  the  banner- 
bearer  in  the  great  struggle.  He  lived  to  see  the  country  all  free,  a 
consummation  he  did  more  than  any  other  man  to  bring  about;  and 
then  he  died,  a  martyr  in  the  great  cause  to  which  he  devoted  his  life. 
Abraham  Lincoln  had  the  mind  of  a  great  statesman  and  the 
powers  of  a  great  orator.  His  gift  of  expression  Avas  equalled  by  the 
lucidity  of  his  thoughts  and  the  majesty  to  which  he  could  rise 
upon  a  fitting  occasion.  His  Gettysburg  speech  is  a  sublime  effort 
which  will  never  be  forgotten  by  his  countrymen  ;  and  of  his  second 
inaugural  speech  it  has  been  said  :  •'  This  was  like  a  sacred  poem. 
No  American  President  had  ever  spoken  words  like  these  to  the 
American  people.  America  never  had  a  President  who  found  such 
words  in  the  depth  of  his  heart." 

JOHN  BROWN  AND  REPUBLICANISM 

[Lincoln's  first  visit  to  the  East  was  in  the  early  mouths  of  i860,  and  on  the 
27th  of  February  he  made  a  speech  at  Cooper's  Institute,  New  York,  which'  struck 
with  surprise  and  filled  with  admiration  his  fellow- Republicans  of  that  city.  It  may 
be  said  that  but  for  this  oratorical  journey  in  the  Bast  he  probably  would  never  have 
been  made  President  of  the  United  States.  We  give  a  brief  selection  from  this  notable 
address.  ] 

You  charge  that  we  stir  up  insurrections  among  your  slaves.  We 
deny  it ;  and  what  is  your  proof?  Harper's  Ferry  !  John  Brown  !  John 
Brown  was  no  Republican  ;  and  you  have  failed  to  implicate  a  single 
Republican  in  his  Harper's  Ferry  enterprise.  If  any  member  of  our  party 
is  guilty  in  that  matter,  you  know  it,  or  you  do  not  know  it.  If  you  do 
know  it,  you  are  inexcusable  to  not  designate  the  man  and  prove  the 
fact.  If  you  do  not  know  it,  you  are  inexcusable  to  assert  it,  and  espe- 
cially to  persist  in  the  assertion  after,  you  have  tried  and  failed  to  make 
the  proof.  You  need  not  be  told  that  persisting  in  a  charge  which  one 
does  not  know  to  be  true,  is  simply  a  malicious  slander. 


122  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Some  of  you  admit  that  no  Republican  designedly  aided  or  encour- 
aged the  Harper's  Ferry  affair,  but  still  insist  that  our  doctrines  and 
declarations  necessarily  lead  to  such  results.  We  do  not  believe  it.  We 
know  we  hold  to  no  doctrine,  and  make  no  declarations,  which  were  not 
held  to  and  made  by  our  fathers,  who  framed  the  Government  under 
which  we  live.  You  never  dealt  fairly  by  us  in  relation  to  this  affair. 
When  it  occurred,  some  important  State  elections  were  near  at  hand,  and 
you  were  in  evident  glee  with  the  belief  that,  by  charging  the  blame  on 
us,  you  could  get  an  advantage  of  us  in  those  elections.  The  elections 
came,  and  your  expectations  were  not  quite  fulfilled.  Every  Republican 
man  knew  that,  as  to  himself  at  least,  your  charge  was  a  slander,  and  he 
was  not  much  inclined  by  it  to  cast  his  vote  in  your  favor.  Republican 
doctrines  and  declarations  are  accompanied  with  a  continual  protest 
against  any  interference  whatever  with  your  slaves,  or  with  you  about 
your  slaves.     Surely,  this  does  not  encourage  them  to  revolt. 

True,  we  do,  in  common  with  our  fathers,  who  framed  the  Govern- 
ment under  which  we  live,  declare  our  belief  that  slavery  is  wrong  ;  but 
the  slaves  do  not  hear  us  declare  this.  For  anything  we  say  or  do  the 
slaves  would  scarcely  know  there  is  a  Republican  party.  I  believe  they 
would  not,  in  fact,  generally  know  it  but  for  your  misrepresentations  of 
us,  in  their  hearing.  In  your  political  contests  among  yourselves  each 
faction  charges  the  other  with  sympathy  with  Black  Republicanism,  and 
then,  to  give  point  to  the  charge,  defines  Black  Republicanism  to  simply 
be  insurrection,  blood  and  thunder  among  the  slaves 

And  how  much  would  it  avail  you  if  you  could,  by  the  use  of  John 
Brown,  Helpe's  book,  and  the  like,  breakup  the  Republican  organization. 
Human  action  can  be  modified  to  some  extent,  but  human  nature  cannot 
be  changed.  There  is  a  judgment  and  a  feeling  against  slavery  in  this 
nation  which  cast  at  least  a  million  and  a  half  of  votes.  You  cannot 
destroy  that  judgment  and  that  feeling — that  sentiment — by  breaking  up 
the  political  organization  which  rallies  around  it.  You  can  scarcely  scat- 
ter and  disperse  an  army  which  has  been  formed  into  order  in  the  face  of 
your  heaviest  fire  ;  but  if  you  could,  how  much  would  you  gain  by  forcing 
the  sentiment  which  created  it  out  of  the  peaceful  channel  of  the  ballot- 
box  into  some  other  channel  !  What  would  that  other  channel  probably 
be  ?  Would  the  number  of  John  Browns  be  lessened  or  enlarged  by  the 
operation  ? 

THE  GETTYSBURG  ADDRESS 
[Never  did  eloquence  reach  a  more  subhme  level,  and  never  was  more  deep  and 
significant  thought  compressed  within  a   few  sentences,   than  in  Lincoln's  world- 
famous  remarks  at  the  dedication    of  the  National  Cemetery  at   Gettysburg,   on 
November  9,  1863.] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  123 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago,  our  fathers  brought  forth  upon  this 
continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the  proposi- 
tion that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil 
war,  testing  whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedi- 
cated, can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battlefield  of  that  war. 
We  are  met  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  it  as  the  final  resting-place  of  those 
who  here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether 
fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this.  But  in  a  large  sense  we  cannot 
dedicate,  we  cannot  consecrate,  we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The 
brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far 
above  our  power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long 
remember,  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here. 
It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work 
that  they  have  thus  far  so  nobly  carried  on.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here 
dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us,  that  from  these  honored 
dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they  here  gave 
the  last  full  measure  of  devotion  ;  that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these 
dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain  ;  that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have 
a  new, birth  of  freedom,  and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people 
and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. 

SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

[On  the  4th  of  March,  1865,  Abraham  I^incoln  spoke  his  last  words  to  the 
American  nation.  These  words  will  remain  for  centuries  to  come  a  classic  of  Ameri- 
can oratory,  their  closing  words  inscribed  upon  the  hearts  of  our  people  as  the  true 
motto  of  the  great  Western  Republic] 

FkIvLOw-Countrymen  :  At  this  second  appearing  to  take  the  oath 
of  the  presidential  office,  there  is  less  occasion  for  an  extended  address 
than  at  the  first.  Then,  a  statement  somewhat  in  detail  of  the  course  to 
be  pursued  seemed  very  fitting  and  proper  ;  now,  at  the  expiration  of  four 
years,  during  which  public  declarations  have  constantly  been  called  forth 
concerning  every  point  and  place  of  the  great  contest  which  still  absorbs 
attention  and  engrosses  the  energies  of  the  nation,  little  that  is  new  could 
be  presented.  The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly 
depends,  is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself.  It  is,  I  trust, 
reasonably  satisfactory  and  encouraging  to  all.  With  a  high  hope  for  the 
future,  no  prediction  in  that  regard  is  ventured. 

On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this  four  years  ago,  all  thoughts 
were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impending  civil  war.  All  dreaded  it.  All 
sought  to  avoid  it.  While  the  Inaugural  Address  was  being  delivered 
from  this  place,  devoted  altogether  to  saving  the  Union  without  w^ar,  the 


124  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

insurgent  agents  were  in  the  city  seeking  to  destroy  it  without  war, — 
seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union,  and  divide  the  effects  by  negotiating. 
Both  parties  deprecat£d.:syar ,  but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather  than 
let  it  perish,  and  war  came.  One-eighth  of  the  whole  population  were 
colored  slaves,  not  distributed  generally  over  the  Union,  but  located  in 
the  southern  part.  These  slaves  contributed  a  peculiar  but  powerful 
interest.  All  knew  the  interest  would  somehow  cause  war.  To 
strengthen,  perpetuate,  and  extend  this  interest  was  the  object  for  which 
the  insurgents  would  rend  the  Union  by  war,  while  the  Government 
claimed  no  right  to  do  more  than  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement  of 
it.  Neither  party  expected  the  magnitude  or  duration  which  it  has 
already  attained  ;  neither  anticipated  that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might 
cease  even  before  the  conflict  itself  should  cease.  Each  looked  for  an 
easier  triumph  and  a  result  less  fundamental  and  astonishing.  Both  read 
the  same  Bible  and  pray  to  the  same  God.  Each  invokes  His  aid  against 
the  other.  It  may  seem  strange  that  any  man  should  dare  to  ask  a  just 
God's  assistance  in  wringing  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces  : 
but  let  us  judge  not  that  we  be  not  judged.  The  prayer  of  both  should 
not  be  answered ;  that  of  neither  has  been  answered  fully,  for  the 
Almighty  has  His  own  purposes.  "Woe  unto  the  world  because  of 
offenses,  for  it  must  needs  be  that  offense  come  ;  but  woe  unto  that  man 
by  whom  the  offense  cometh." 

If  we  shall  suppose  African  slavery  one  of  those  offenses  which,  in 
the  providence  of  God,  must  needs  come,  but  which  having  continued 
through  His  appointed  time.  He  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  He  gives 
to  both  North  and  South  this  terrible  war,  as  was  due  to  those  by  whom 
the  offense  came,  shall  we  discern  that  there  is  any  departure  from  those 
divine  attributes  which  believers  in  the  living  God  always  ascribe  to  Him  ? 
Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that  this  mighty  scourge  of 
war  may  speedily  pass  away  ;  yet  if  it  be  God's  will  that  it  continue  until 
the  wealth  piled  by  bondsmen  by  two  hundred  and  fifty  years'  unrequited 
toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash 
shall  be  paid  by  another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand 
years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said  that  the  judgments  of  the  Eord  are  true 
and  righteous  altogether. 

With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firmness  in  the 
right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work 
we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have 
borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  orphans  ;  to  do  all  which  may 
achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with 
all  nations. 


STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS  (J8I3=J86J) 

THE  LITTLE  GIANT 


HORT  in  stature  but  great  in  mental  power  was  the  man  whom  his 
admirers  fitly  named  ''The  Little  Giant/'  the  diversity  of  his 
physical  and  his  mental  stature  being  signified  in  this  familiar 
title.  A  man  of  great  fluency  of  language  and  quickness  of  thought, 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  became  one  of  the  most  famous  orators  of  the  West. 
He  may  justly  be  classed  with  his  country's  leading  men.  In  orator- 
ical skill  few  surpassed  him,  and  he  was  a  prominent  actor  in  the  pro- 
logue to  that  great  tragic  drama  of  American  history,  the  Civil  War, 
though  in  the  latter  he  took  no  part,  dying  in  June,  1861,  shortly 
after  the  armies  met  in  actual  conflict.  In  his  famous  contest  with 
Lincoln  he  was  on  the  losing  side.  Brilliant  and  specious,  he  lacked 
the  deep  insight  of  his  antagonist,  and  weakly  permitted  himself  to 
be  drawm  on  to  attempt  to  answer  a  series  of  subtle  questions  pro- 
pounded by  his  shrewd  opponent.  His  answer  had  its  share  in  win- 
ning him  the  Senatorship.  It  proved  fatal  to  him  in  his  higher 
aspiration,  that  of  being  made  President  of  the  United  States. 

As  an  orator  Douglas  first  gained  high  distinction  in  the  canvass 
for  President  in  1840.  Elected  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illi- 
nois in  1841,  he  became  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
1843  and  of  the  Senate  in  1847.  His  candidacy  for  a  third  term  in 
the  Senate  led  to  the  debate  spoken  of  in  the  sketch  of  Lincoln's 
career.  In  the  Senate  he  supported  Clay's  Compromise  Bill  of  1850, 
and  was  the  author  of  the  doctrine  which  became  known  as  "Popular 
Sovereignty,"  this  being  that  the  people  of  each  Territory  should  de- 
cide whether  it  should  be  admitted  as  a  free  or  slave  State.  In  1854 
he  reported  the  bill  by  which  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  repealed. 
But  when  war  actually  began  Douglas  ranged  himself  on  the  side  of 

125 


l26  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS 

the  government,  making  a  patriotic  speech  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  on 

April  25,  1861.     He  died  while  the  first  sounds  of  the  conflict  were 

in  the  air. 

SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES 

[It  was  at  Freeport,  Illinois,  on  the  lytU  of  June,  1858,  that  Douglas  made  the 
eflfort,  fatal  to  his  hopes  of  the  Presidency,  to  answer  a  series  of  questions  which  his  far- 
seeing  antagonist  had  propounded.  One  of  these  questions  was  whether  there  were 
lawful  means  by  which  slavery  could  be  excluded  from  a  Territory  before  its  admis- 
sion as  a  State.  Lincoln's  friends  foresaw  what  Douglas  would  reply,  and  said  that  his 
answer  would  satisfy  the  legislature  and  insure  his  re-election.  "  I  am  after  larger 
game,"  said  Lincoln.  "  If  Douglas  so  answers  he  can  never  be  President,  and  the 
battle  of  i860  is  worth  a  hundred  of  this. "  Lincoln  was  right.  Douglas's  answer 
enunciated  a  doctrine  which  might  keep  slavery  out  of  a  Territory,  in  spite  of  the 
Dred  Scott  decision.  As  a  result,  he  lost  the  support  of  the  Southern  Democracy, 
the  party  nominated  two  candidates,  and  Lincoln  was  carried  triumphantly  into  the 
Presidential  chair,  Douglas  receiving  only  twelve  electoral  votes.  We  give  the  reply 
so  far  as  it  relates  to  Lincoln's  more  important  questions.] 

I  am  glad  that  I  have  at  last  brought  Mr.  lyincoln  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  had  better  define  his  position  on  certain  political  questions  to 
which  I  called  his  attention  at  Ottawa.  He  there  showed  no  disposition, 
no  inclination,  to  answer  them.  I  did  not  present  idle  questions  for  him 
to  answer  merely  for  my  gratification.  I  laid  the  foundation  for  those 
interrogatories  .by  showing  that  they  constituted  the  platform  of  the  party 
whose  nominee  he  is  for  the  Senate.  I  did  not  presume  that  I  had  the 
right  to  catechise  him  as  I  saw  proper,  unless  I  showed  that  his  party,  or 
a  majority  of  it,  stood  upon  the  platform  and  were  in  favor  of  the  propo- 
sitions upon  which  my  questions  were  based.  I  desired  simply  to  know, 
in  as  much  as  he  had  been  nominated  as  the  first,  last,  and  only  choice  of 
his  party,  whether  he  concurred  in  the  platform  which  that  party  had 
adopted  for  its  government.  In  a  few  moments  I  will  proceed  to  review 
the  answers  which  he  has  given  to  these  interrogatories  ;  but  in  order  to 
relieve  his  anxiety,  I  will  first  respond  to  Chese  which  he  has  presented  to 
me.  Mark  you,  he  has  not  presented  interrogatories  which  have  ever 
received  the  sanction  of  the  party  with  which  I  am  acting,  and  hence  he 
has  no  other  foundation  for  them  than  his  own  curiosity. 

[We  omit  the  first  question  which  related  to  the  terms  of  the  admission  of  Kansas 
as  a  State.] 

The  n€xt  question  propounded  to  me  by  Mr.   Lincoln  is  :  Can  the 
people  of  a  territory  in  any  lawful  way,  against  the  wishes  of  any  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits  prior  to  the  formation  • 
of  a   State   constitution?      I   answer  emphatically,   as   Mr.  Lincoln  has 
heard  me  answer  a  hundred  times  from    every  stump  in  Illinois,  that  in 


STEPHEisr  A.  DOUCjLaS  127 

my  opinion  the  people  of  a  territory  can,  by  lawful  means,  exclude  slavery 
from  their  limits  prior  to  the  formation  of  a  State  constitution.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln knew  that  I  had  answered  that  question  over  and  over  again.  He 
heard  me  argue  the  Nebraska  Bill  on  that  principle  all  over  the  State  in  1 854, 
in  1855,  and  in  1856,  and  he  has  no  excuse  for  pretending  to  be  in  doubt  as 
to  my  position  on  that  question.  It  matters  not  what  the  Supreme  Court 
may  hereafter  decide  as  to  the  abstract  question  whether  slavery  may  or 
may  not  go  into  a  Territory  under  the  Constitution  ;  the  people  have  the 
lawful  means  to  introduce  it  or  exclude  it  as  they  please,  for  the  reason 
that  slavery  cannot  exist  a  day  or  an  hour  anywhere,  unless  it  is  supported 
by  local  police  regulations.  Those  police  regulations  can  only  be  estab- 
lished by  the  local  legislature  ;  and  if  the  people  are  opposed  to  slavery, 
they  will  elect  representatives  to  that  body  who  will  by  unfriendly  legisla- 
tion effectually  prevent  the  introduction  of  it  into  their  midst.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  they  are  for  it,  their  legislation  will  favor  its  extension.  Hence, 
no  matter  what  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  may  be  on  that  abstract 
question,  still  the  right  of  the  people  to  make  a  slave  Territory  or  a  free 
Territory  is  perfect  and  complete  under  the  Nebraska  Bill.  I  hope  Mr. 
Lincoln  deems  my  answer  satisfactory  on  that  point. 

[The  third  question  was:  "  If  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  shall 
decide  that  a  State  of  this  Union  cannot  exclude  slavery  from  its  own  limits,  will  I 
submit  to  it  ?    The  answer  to  this  we  shall  omit.] 

The  fourth  question  of  Mr.  Lincoln  is  :  "  Are  you  in  favor  of  acquir- 
ing additional  territory,  in  disregard  as  to  how  such  acquisition  may  affect 
the  Union  on  the  slavery  question  ?  "  This  question  is  very  ingeniously 
and  cunningly  put. 

The  black  Republican  creed  lays  it  down  expressly,  that  under  no 
circumstances  shall  we  acquire  any  more  territory,  under  any  condi- 
tions, unless  slavery  is  first  prohibited  in  the  country.  I  ask  Mr.  Lin- 
coln whether  he  is  in  favor  of  that  proposition.  Are  you  (addressing  Mr. 
Lincoln)  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  any  more  territory,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, unless  slavery  is  prohibited  in  it  ?  That  he  does  not  like  to 
answer.  When  I  ask  him  whether  he  stands  up  to  that  article  in  the 
platform  of  his  party  he  turns,  Yankee  fashion,  and,  without  answering 
it,  asks  me  whether  I  am  in  favor  of  acquiring  territory  without  regard  to 
how  it  may  affect  the  Union  on  the  slavery  question.  I  answer  that  when- 
ever it  becomes  necessary,  in  our  growth  and  progress,  to  acquire  more 
territory,  that  I  am  in  favor  of  it,  without  reference  to  the  question  of 
slavery  ;  and  when  we  have  acquired  it,  I  will  leave  the  people  free  to  do 
as  they  please,  either  to  make  it  slave  or  free  Territory,  as  they  prefer. 


128  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS 

It  is  idle  to  tell  me  or  you  that  we  have  territory  enough.  Our  fath- 
ers supposed  that  we  had  enough  when  our  territory  extended  to  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  but  a  few  years'  growth  and  expansion  satisfied  them  that  we 
needed  more,  and  the  Louisiana  Territory,  from  the  west  branch  of  the 
Mississippi  to  the  British  possessions,  was  acquired.  Then  we  acquired 
Oregon,  then  California  and  New  Mexico.  We  have  enough  now  for  the 
present,  but  this  is  a  young  and  growing  nation.  It  swarms  as  often  as  a 
hive  of  bees  ;  and  as  new  swarms  are  turned  out  each  year,  there  must  be 
hives  in  which  they  can  gather  and  make  their  honey.  In  less  than  fif- 
teen years,  if  the  same  progress  that  has  distinguished  this  country  for  the 
last  fifteen  years  continue,  every  foot  of  vacant  land  between  this  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean  owned  by  the  United  States  will  be  occupied. 

Will  you  not  continue  to  increase  at  the  end  of  fifteen  years  as  well' 
as  now  ?  I  tell  you,  increase  and  multiply  and  expand  is  the  law  of  this 
nation's  existence.  You  cannot  limit  this  great  Republic  by  mere  bound- 
ary lines,  saying:  **Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  further."  Any  one 
of  you  gentlemen  might  as  well  say  to  a  son  twelve  years  old  that  he  is 
big  enough,  and  must  not  grow  any  larger,  and  in  order  to  prevent  his 
growth  put  a  hoop  around  him  to  keep  him  to  his  present  size.  What 
would  be  the  result  ?  Either  the  hoop  must  burst  and  be  rent  asunder,  or 
the  child  must  die.  So  it  would  be  with  this  great  nation.  With  our 
natural  increase,  growing  with  a  rapidity  unknown  in  any  other  part  of 
the  globe,  with  the  tide  of  emigration  that  is  fleeing  from  despotism  in  the 
Old  World  to  seek  refuge  in  our  own,  there  is  a  constant  torrent  pouring 
into  this  country  that  requires  more  land,  more  territory  upon  which  to 
settle  ;  and  just  as  fast  as  our  interests  and  our  destiny  require  additional 
territory  in  the  North,  in  the  South,  or  on  the  islands  of  the  ocean,  I  am 
for  it,  and  when  we  acquire  it,  will  leave  the  people,  according  to  the 
Nebraska  Bill,  free  to  do  as  they  please  on  the  subject  of  slavery  and 
every  other  question. 

I  trust  now  that  Mr.  Lincoln  will  deem  himself  answered  on  his  four 
points.  He  racked  his  brain  so  much  in  devising  these  four  questions 
that  he  exhausted  himself,  and  had  not  strength  enough  to  invent  the 
others.  As  soon  as  he  is  able  to  hold  a  council  with  his  advisers.  Love- 
joy,  Famsworth,  and  Fred  Douglass,  he  will  frame  and  propound  others. 


THADDEUS  STEVENS  (J 7934 868) 

THE  FRIEND  OF  FREEDOM  AND  EDUCATION 


IHADDEUS  STEVENS,  a  native  of  Vermont,  but  identified  with 
Pennsylvania,  made  himself  notable  in  two  ways.  It  was  his 
powerful  advocacy  of  popular  education  in  1835  that  gave 
Pennsylvania  her  common  school  system.  And  his  unrelenting 
hostility  to  slavery  placed  him  in  rank  with  such  men  as  Garrison, 
Phillips,  Parker,  and  their  fellow  friends  of  human  freedom.  Nearly 
half  his  life  was  spent  in  the  ser \  ice  of  his  State  and  country,  while  the 
slave  system  found  in  him  one  of  its  bitterest  adversaries.  After  the 
end  of  the  war  he  became  the  most  prominent  member  of  the  House 
and  a  strenuous  opponent  of  President  Johnson's  policy.  He  and 
Sherman  were  the  authors  of  the  Reconstruction  Bill  that  was 
adopted  by  Congress,  and  it  was  he  who  first  advocated  the  impeach- 
ment of  the  President.  He  was  one  of  the  managers  of  the  impeach- 
ment trial,  and  died  soon  after  its  end, 

FANATICISM  AND  LIBERTY 

[Stevens  did  not  mince  language  in  dealing  with  the  slavery  question  and  its 
advocates.  His  feeling  on  the  subject  was  intense,  and  he  denounced  it  with  burning 
eloquence.  Those  Northern  statesmen  who  supported  the  Compromise  of  1850,  includ- 
ing Webster,  were  handled  by  him  in  the  most  vigorous  language,  as  is  evidenced  in 
the  following  selection,  taken  from  one  of  his  speeches  on  this  subject.] 

Dante,  by  actual  observation,  makes  hell  consist  of  nine  circles,  the 
punishment  of  each  increasing  in  intensity  over  the  preceding.  Those 
doomed  to  the  first  circle  are  much  less  afflicted  than  those  of  the  ninth, 
where  are  tortured  Lucifer  and  Judas  Iscariot — and  I  trust,  in  the  next 
edition,  will  be  added,  the  traitors  of  liberty.  But  notwithstanding  this 
difierence  in  degree,  all,  from  the  very  first  circle  to  the  ninth,  inclusive, 
is  hell — cruel,  desolate,  abhorred,  horrible  hell !  If  I  might  venture  to 
make  a  suggestion,  I  would  advise  those  reverend  perverters  of  Scripture 
9  129 


130  THADDEUS  STEVENS 

to  devote  their  subtlety  to  what  they  have  probably  more  interest  in  ;  to 
ascertaining  and  demonstrating  (perhaps  an  accompanying  map  might  be 
useful)  the  exact  spot  and  location  where  the  most  comfort  may  be 
enjoyed — the  coolest  corner  of  the  lake  that  burns  with  fire  and  brimstone  ! 

But  not  only  by  honorable  gentlemen  in  this  House,  and  right 
honorable  gentlemen  in  the  other,  but  throughout  the  country,  the 
friends  of  liberty  are  reproached  as  '' transcendentalists  and  fanatics." 
Sir,  I  do  not  understand  the  terms  in  such  connection.  There  can  be  no 
fanatics  in  the  cause  of  genuine  liberty.  Fanaticism  is  excessive  zeal. 
There  maybe,  and  have  been,  fanatics  in  false  religion — in  the  bloody 
religion  of  the  heathen.  There  are  fanatics  in  superstition.  But  there 
can  be  no  fanatics,  however  warm  their  zeal,  in  true  religion,  even 
although  you  sell  your  goods,  and  bestow  your  money  on  the  poor,  and 
go  and  follow  your  Master.  There  may  be — and  every  hour  shows 
around  me — fanatics  in  the  cause  of  false  liberty  ;  that  infamous  liberty 
which  justifies  human  bondage ;  that  liberty  whose  corner-stone  is 
slavery.  But  there  can  be  no  fanaticism,  however  high  the  enthusiasm, 
in  the  cause  of  rational,  universal  liberty — the  liberty  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

This  is  the  same  censure  which  the  Egyptian  tyrant  cast  upon  those 
old  abolitionists,  Moses  and  Aaron,  when  they  ''agitated"  for  freedom, 
and,  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  God,  bade  him  let  the  people  go. 

But  we  are  told  by  these  pretended  advocates  of  liberty  in  both 
branches  of  Congress,  that  those  who  preach  freedom  here  and  elsewhere 
are  the  slave's  worst  enemies  ;  that  it  makes  the  vSlaveholder  increase  their 
burdens  and  tighten  their  chains  ;  that  more  cruel  laws  are  enacted  since 
this  agitation  began  in  1835.  Sir,  I  am  not  satisfied  that  this  is  the 
fact 

But  suppose  it  were  true  that  the  masters  had  become  more  severe, 
has  it  not  been  so  with  tyrants  of  every  age  ?  The  nearer  the  oppressed 
is  to  freedom,  and  the  more  hopeful  his  struggles,  the  tighter  the  master 
rivets  his  chains.  Moses  and  Aaron  urged  the  emancipation  of  the 
enslaved  Jews.  Their  master  hardened  his  heart.  Those  fanatical  aboli- 
tionists, guided  by  Heaven,  agitated  anew.  Pharaoh  increased  the  bur- 
den of  the  slaves.  He  required  the  same  quantity  of  bricks  from  them 
without  straw,  as  when  the  straw  had  been  found  them.  They  were  seen 
dispersed  and  wandering  to  gather  stubble  to  make  out  their  task.  They 
failed,  and  were  beaten  with  stripes.  Moses  was  their  worst  enemy, 
according  to  these  philanthropic  gentlemen.  Did  the  Lord  think  so,  and 
command  him  to  desist  lest  he  should  injure  them  ?  No ;  He  directed 
him  to  agitate  again,  and  demand  the  abolition  of  slavery  from  the  king 


THADDEUS  STEVENS  131 

himself.  That  great  slaveholder  still  hardened  his  heart  and  refused.  The 
Lord  visited  him  with  successive  plagues — lice,  frogs,  locusts,  thick  dark- 
ness— until,  as  the  agitation  grew  higher,  and  the  chains  were  tighter 
drawn,  he  smote  the  firstborn  of  every  house  in  Egypt ;  nor  did  the  slave- 
holder relax  the  grasp  on  his  victims  until  there  was  wailing  throughout 
the  whole  land,  over  one  dead  in  every  family,  from  the  king  that  sat  on 
the  throne  to  the  captive  in  the  dungeon. 

So  I  fear  it  will  be  in  this  land  of  wicked  slavery.  You  have  already 
among  you  what  is  equivalent  to  the  lice  and  the  locusts,  that  wither  up 
every  green  thing  where  the  foot  of  slavery  treads.  Beware  of  the  final 
plague.  And  you,  in  the  midst  of  slavery,  who  are  willing  to  do  justice 
to  the  people,  take  care  that  your  works  testify  to  the  purity  of  your 
intentions,  even  at  some  cost.  Take  care  that  your  door-posts  are  sprin- 
kled with  the  blood  of  sacrifice,  that  when  the  destroying  angel  goes  forth, 
as  go  forth  he  will,  he  may  pass  you  by. 

Aside  from  the  principle  of  Eternal  Right,  I  will  never  consent  to  the 
admission  of  another  slave  State  into  the  Union  (unless  bound  to  do  so  by 
some  constitutional  compact,  and  I  know  of  none  such),  on  account  of 
the  injustice  of  slave  representation.  By  the  Constitution,  not  only  the 
States  now  in  the  Union,  but  all  that  may  hereafter  be  admitted,  are  enti- 
tled to  have  their  slaves  represented  in  Congress,  five  slaves  being  counted 
equal  to  three  white  freemen.  This  is  unjust  to  the  free  States,  unless 
you  allow  them  a  representation  in  the  compound  ratio  of  persons  and 
property.  There  are  twenty -five  gentlemen  on  this  floor  who  are  virtually 
the  representatives  of  slaves  alone,  having  not  one  free  constituent.  This 
is  an  outrage  on  every  representative  principle,  which  supposes  that  rep- 
resentatives have  constituents  whose  will  they  are  bound  to  obey  and 
whose  interest  they  protect 

It  is  my  purpose  nowhere  in  these  remarks  to  make  personal 
reproaches ;  I  entertain  no  ill-will  towards  any  human  being,  nor  any 
brute;  that  I  know  of,  not  even  the  skunk  across  the  way,  to  which  I 
referred.  I^ast  of  all  would  I  reproach  the  South.  I  honor  her  courage 
and  fidelity.  Even  in  a  bad,  a  wicked  cause  she  shows  a  united  front. 
All  her  sons  are  faithful  to  the  cause  of  human  bondage,  because  it  is 
their  cause.  But  the  North — the  poor,  timid,  mercenary,  driveling  North 
— has  no  such  united  defenders  of  her  cause,  although  it  is  the  cause  of 
human  liberty.  None  of  the  bright  lights  of  the  nation  shine  upon  her 
section.  Even  her  own  great  men  have  turned  her  accusers.  She  is  the 
victim  of  low  ambition — an  ambition  which  prefers  self  to  country,  per- 
sonal aggrandizement  to  the  high  cause  of  human  liberty.  She  is  offered 
up  a  sacrifice  to  propitiate  Southern  tyranny ;  to  conciliate  treason. 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS  (18084889) 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  CONFEDERACY 


mHAT  young  man,  gentlemen,  is  no  ordinary  man  ;  he  will 
make  his  mark  yet.''  Such  was  the  opinion  of  John 
Quincy  Adams,  after  hearing  Jefferson  Davis  make  his  first 
speech  in  the  Senate.  Make  his  mark  he  did,  in  two  ways  ;  first,  as 
orator  and  statesman  ^f  the  Slavery  and  State  Rights  party  ;  second, 
as  President  of  the  Souths  -n  Confederacy  during  the  Civil  War.  The 
soldiers  of  the  Federal  army,  in  their  songful  wish  to  "  Hang  Jeff 
Davis  on  a  sour  apple  tree,"  w^ere  eager  to  have  him  make  his  mark 
in  a  different  way,  and  would  perhaps  have  quickly  ended  his  career 
if  he  had  fallen  into  their  hands. 

As  an  orator  Davis  possessed  much  fluency  and  ability.  In  style 
he  was  simple  and  direct,  indulging  in  no  flights  of  rhetoric,  but 
moving  straight  forward  to  his  goal,  with  much  force  and  energy  of 
statement  and  an  unadorned  severity  of  manner. 

RELATIONS  OF  NORTH  AND  SOUTH 

[In  1850  Henry  Clay  brought  before  Congress  his  famous  Compromise  measure, 
its  purpose  being  to  settle  the  questions  which  had  arisen  from  the  acquisition  of 
territory  from  Mexico.  The  issue  was  precipitated  by  the  demand  of  California  for 
admission  to  the  Union  as  a  free  State.  Clay  proposed  to  balance  the  claims  of  the 
two  sections.  In  response  to  the  Northern  demand  he  asked  for  the  admission  of 
California  as  a  free  State  and  the  prohibition  of  slavery  within  the  District  of 
Columbia.  In  favor  of  the  South  he  asked  for  a  stringent  law  for  the  return  of  fugi- 
tive slaves.  The  question  of  the  admission  of  slavery  to  New  Mexico  and  Utah  was 
to  be  left  for  their  people  to  decide.  This  compromise  was  carried,  and  for  the  time 
being,  settled  the  questions  in  dispute.  Davis  opposed  it  in  terms  that  hinted  at  future 
secession.  The  following  selection  is  from  his  speech  of  February  4,  1850,  on  the 
question  of  the  admission  of  California  to  the  Union.] 

If,   sir,   the  spirit   of  sectional  aggrandizement,   or,    if  gentlemen 
prefer,  this  love  they  bear  the  African  race,  shall  cause  the  disunion  of 
these  States,  the  last  chapter  of  our  history  will  be  a  sad  commentary  upon 
132 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS  133 

the  justice  and  the  wisdom  of  our  people.  That  this  Union,  replete  with 
.  blessings  to  its  own  citizens  and  diffusive  of  hope  to  the  rest  of  mankind, 
should  fall  a  victim  to  a  selfish  aggrandizement  and  a  pseudo-philanthropy, 
prompting  one  portion  of  the  Union  to  war  upon  the  domestic  rights  and 
peace  of  another,  would  be  a  deep  reflection  on  the  good  sense  and 
patriotism  of  our  daj^  and  generation. 

But,  sir,  if  this  last  chapter  in  our  history  shall  ever  be  written,  the 
reflective  reader  will  ask,  Whence  proceeded  this  hostility  of  the  North 
against  the  South  ?  He  will  find  it  there  recorded  that  the  South,  in  oppo- 
sition to  her  own  immediate  interests,  engaged  with  the  North  in  the 
unequal  struggle  of  the  Revolution.  He  will  find  again  that  when  North- 
ern seamen  were  impressed,  their  brethren  of  the  South  considered  it 
cause  for  war,  and  entered  warmly  into  the  contest  with  the  haughty 
power  then  claiming  to  be  mistress  of  the  seas.  He  will  find  that  the 
South,  afar  off,  unseen  and  unheard,  toiling  in  the  pursuits  of  agriculture, 
had  filled  the  shipping,  and  supplied  the  staple  for  manufactures,  which 
enriched  the  North.  He  will  find  that  she  was  the  great  consumer  of 
Northern  fabrics  ;  that  she  not  only  paid  for  these  their  fair  value  in  the 
markets  of  the  world,  but  that  she  also  paid  their  increased  value,  derived 
from  the  imposition  of  revenue  duties.  And  if,  still  further,  he  seek  for 
the  cause  of  this  hostility,  it  at  last  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
South  held  the  African  race  in  bondage,  being  the  descendants  of  those 
who  were  mainly  purchased  from  the  people  of  the  North.  And  this  was 
the  great  cause.  For  this  the  North  claimed  that  the  South  should  be 
restricted  from  future  growth,  that  around  her  should  be  drawn,  as  it 
were,  a  sanitary  cordon  to  prevent  the  extension  of  a  moral  leprosy ;  and 
if  for  that  it  shall  be  written  that  the  South  resisted,  it  would  be  but  in 
keeping  with  every  page  she  has  added  to  the  history  of  our  country. 

It  depends  on  those  in  the  majority  to  say  whether  this  last  chapter  in 
our  history  shall  be  written  or  not.  It  depends  on  them  now  to  decide 
whether  the  strife  between  the  different  sections  shall  be  arrested  before  it 
has  become  impossible,  or  whether  it  shall  proceed  to  a  final  catastrophe. 
I,  sir — and  I  speak  only  for  myself — am  willing  to  meet  any  fair  proposi- 
tion ;  to  settle  upon  anything  which  promises  security  for  the  future ;  any- 
thing which  assures  me  of  permanent  peace ;  and  I  am  willing  to  make 
whatever  sacrifice  I  may  be  properly  called  on  to  render  for  that  purpose. 
Nor,  sir,  is  it  a  light  responsibility.  If  I  strictly  measured  my  conduct  by 
the  late  message  of  the  Governor  and  the  recent  expressions  of  opinion  in 
my  State,  I  should  have  no  power  to  accept  any  terms  save  the  unqualified 
admission  of  the  equal  rights  of  the  citizens  of  the  South  to  go  into  any  of 
the  Territories  of  the  United  States  with  any  and  every  species  of  property 


134  JEFFERSON  DAVIS 

held  among  us.  I  am  willing,  however,  to  take  my  share  of  the  responsi- 
bility which  the  crisis  of  our  country  demands.  I  am  willing  to  rely  on  the 
known  love  of  the  people  I  represent  for  the  whole  country  and  the  abiding 
respect  which  I  know  they  entertain  for  the  Union  of  these  States 

Mr.  President,  is  there  such  an  incompatibility  of  interest  between 
the  two  sections  of  this  country  that  they  cannot  profitably  live  together  ? 
Does  the  agriculture  of  the  South  injure  the  manufactures  of  the  North? 
On  the  other  hand,  are  they  not  their  life-blood  ?  And  think  you  if  one 
portion  of  the  Union,  however  great  it  might  be  in  commerce  and  manu- 
factures, were  separated  from  all  the  agricultural  districts,  that  it  would 
long  maintain  its  supremacy  ?  If  any  one  so  believes,  let  him  turn  to  the 
written  history  of  commercial  states ;  let  him  look  upon  the  moldering 
palaces  of  Venice ;  let  him  ask  for  the  faded  purple  of  Tyre,  and 
visit  the  ruins  of  Carthage ;  there  he  will  see  written  the  fate  of  every 
country  which  rests  its  prosperity  upon  commerce  and  manufactures  alone. 
United  we  have  grown  to  our  present  dignity  and  power  ;  united  we 
may  go  on  to  a  destiny  which  the  human  mind  cannot  measure.  Separa- 
ted, I  feel  that  it  requires  no  prophetic  eye  to  see  that  the  portion  of  the 
country  which  is  now  scattering  the  seeds  of  disunion  to  which  I  have 
referred  will  be  that  which  will  suffer  most.  Grass  will  grow  on  the 
pavements  now  worn  by  the  constant  tread  of  the  human  throng  which 
waits  on  commerce,  and  the  shipping  will  abandon  your  ports  for  those 
which  now  furnish  the  staples  of  trade.  And  we  who  produce  the  great 
staple  upon  which  your  commerce  and  manufactures  rest,  will  produce 
those  staples  still ;  shipping  will  fill  our  harbors ;  and  why  may  we  not 
found  the  Tyre  of  modern  commerce  within  our  own  limits  ?  Why  may 
we  not  bring  the  manufacturers  to  the  side  of  agriculture,  and  commerce, 
too,  the  ready  servant  of  both?  .    .    .    . 

It  is  essentially  the  characteristic  of  the  chivalrous  that  they  never 
speculate  upon  the  fears  of  any  man,  and  I  trust  that  no  such  speculation 
will  be  made  upon  the  idea  that  may  be  entertained  in  any  quarter  that 
the  South,  from  fear  of  her  slaves,  is  necessarily  opposed  to  a  dissolution 
of  this  Union.  She  has  no  such  fear  ;  her  slaves  would  be  to  her  now, 
as  they  were  in  the  Revolution,  an  element  of  military  strength.  I  trust 
that  no  speculations  will  be  made  upon  either  the  condition  or  the  supposed 
weakness  of  the  South.  They  will  bring  sad  disappointments  to  those 
who  indulge  them.  Rely  upon  her  devotion  to  the  Union  ;  rely  upon  the 
feeling  of  fraternity  she  inherited  and  has  never  failed  to  manifest ;  rely 
upon  the  nationality  and  freedom  from  sedition  which  has  in  all  ages 
characterized  an  agricultural  people ;  give  her  justice,  and  the  reliance 
will  never  fail  you. 


I 


ALEXANDER  R  STEPHENS  (J8J2-J883) 

THE  CONFEDERATE  VICE-PRESIDENT 


WHEN,  in  the  early  days  of  1861,  the  secession  convention  of 
Georgia,  was  considering  the  perilous  purpose  which  most  of 
■^  its  members  had  strongly  in  view,  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
earnestly  combatted  its  suicidal  course.  In  this  he  was  strongly  sus- 
tained by  another  statesman  of  the  convention,  Benjamin  H.  Hill. 
But  when  the  ordinance  of  secession  was  passed  against  their  advice, 
they  yielded  their  own  opinions  and  went  with  their  State,  Hill  becom- 
ing a  Confederate  Senator,  and  Stephens  Vice-President  of  the  Con- 
federacy during  its  four  eventful  years.  He  had  been  a  member  of 
the  National  House  of  Representatives  for  sixteen  years  before  the 
war,  and  entered  this  body  again  in  1874,  serving  for  several  terms. 
In  1882  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Georgia.  Alike  as  orator  and 
statesman,  Stephens  was  a  man  of  unusual  powers. 

SEPARATE  AS  BILLOWS,  BUT  ONE  AS  THE  SEA 

[As  an  example  of  Mr.  Stephens's  oratory,  we  offer  the  following  extract  from 
his  address  of  February  12,  1878,  at  the  unveiling  of  Carpenter's  picture  illustrating 
the  signing  of  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  by  President  Lincoln.  It  is  of 
interest  alike  for  its  eulogy  of  Lincoln,  and  its  views  on  the  effect  of  emancipation  and 
the  reunion  of  the  country.] 

I  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  well.  We  met  in  the  House  in  December,  1847. 
We  were  together  during  the  Thirtieth  Congress.  I  was  as  intimate  with 
him  as  with  any  other  man  of  that  Congress,  except  perhaps  my  colleague, 
Mr.  Toombs.  Of  Mr.  Lincoln's  general  character  I  need  not  speak.  He 
was  warm-hearted ;  he  was  generous  ;  he  was  magnanimous ;  he  was 
most  truly,  as  he  afterwards  said  on  a  memorable  occasion,  *'  with  malice 
toward  none,  with  charity  for  all."  He  had  a  native  genius  far  above  his 
fellows.  Every  fountain  of  his  heart  was  overflowing  with  the  ''  milk  of 
human  kindness . ' '     From  my  attachment,  to  him ,  so.  much  deeper  was  the 

1S5 


136  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS 

pang  iu  my  own  breast,  as  well  as  of  millions,  at  the  horrible  manner  of 
his  **  taking  off."  This  was  the  climax  of  our  troubles,  and  the  spring 
from  which  came  unnumbered  woes.  But  of  those  events,  no  more,  now! 
As  to  the  great  historic  event  which  this  picture  represents,  one  thing 
should  be  duly  noted.  Let  not  History  confuse  events.  It  is  this  :  that 
Emancipation  was  not  the  chief  object  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  issuing  the  Procla- 
mation. His  chief  object,  the  ideal  to  which  his  whole  soul  was  devoted, 
was  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  Pregnant  as  it  was  with  coming  events, 
initiative  as  it  was  of  ultimate  emancipation,  it  still  originated,  in  point  of 
fact,  more  from  what  was  deemed  the  necessities  of  war  than  from  any 
purely  humanitarian  view  of  the  matter.  Life  is  all  a  mist,  and  in  the 
dark  our  fortunes  meet  us.  This  was  evidently  the  case  with  Mr.  Lincoln. 
He,  in  my  opinion,  was,  like  all  the  rest  of  us,  an  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  that  Providence  above  us,  that  **  divinity  which  shapes  our  ends,  rough- 
hew  them  as  we  will.''  I  doubt  very  much  whether  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  the 
time,  realized  the  great  result.  The  Proclamation  did  not  declare  free  all 
the  colored  people  of  the  Southern  States,  but  applied  only  to  those  parts 
of  the  country  then  in  resistance  to  the  Federal  authorities.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
idea  as  embodied  in  his  Proclamation  of  September  22,  1862,  as  well  as 
that  of  January  i,  1863,  was  consummated  by  the  voluntary  adoption,  by 
the  South,  of  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  That  is  the  charter  of  the  colored  man's  freedom.  Without 
that,  the  Proclamation  had  nothing  but  the  continuance  of  the  war  to 
sustain  it.  Had  the  States,  then  in  resistance,  laid  down  their  arms  by 
the  ist  of  January,  1863,  the  Union  would  have  been  saved,  but  the 
condition  of  the  slave,  so  called,  would  have  been  unchanged. 

Before  the  upturning  of  Southern  society  by  the  Reconstruction  Acts, 
the  white  people,  there,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  their  domestic  insti- 
tution, known  as  slavery,  had  better  be  abolished.  It  has  been  common  to 
speak  of  the  colored  race  as  the  wards  of  the  nation.  May  I  not  say  with 
appropriateness  and  due  reverence,  in  the  language  of  Georgia's  greatest 
intellect,  "  They  are  rather  the  wards  of  the  Almighty  "  ?  Why,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  their  ancestors  were  permitted  to  be  brought  over  here 
it  is  not  for  me  to  say  ;  but  they  have  a  location  and  habitation  here, 
especially  at  the  South  ;  and,  though  the  changed  condition  of  their  sta 
was  the  leading  cause  of  the  late  terrible  conflict  between  the  States 
venture  to  affirm  that  there  is  not  one  within  the  circle  of  my  acquaint 
ance,  or  in  the  whole  Southern  country,  who  would  wish  to  see  the 
relation  restored. 

This  changed  status  creates  new  duties.     Men  of  the  North,  and  men 
of  the  South,  of  the  East,  and  of  the  West,  I  care  not  of  what  party,  I 


1 

oldl 


ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS  137 

would,  to-day,  on  this  commemorative  occasion,  urge  upon  every  one 
within  the  sphere  of  duty  and  humanity,  whether  in  public  or  private  life, 
to  see  to  it  that  there  be  no  violation  of  the  divine  trust. 

During  the  conflict  of  arms  I  frequently  almost  despaired  of  the 
liberties  of  our  country,  both  North  and  South.  The  Union  of  these 
States,  at  first,  I  always  thought  was  founded  upon  the  assumption  that 
it  was  the  best  interest  of  all  to  remain  united,  faithfully  performing,  each 
for  itself,  its  own  constitutional  obligations  under  the  compact.  When 
secession  was  resorted  to  as  a  remedy,  I  went  with  my  State,  holding  it 
my  duty  to  do  so,  but  believing,  all  the  time,  that  if  successful,  when  the 
pavSsions  of  the  hour  and  of  the  day  were  over,  the  great  law  which  pro- 
duced the  Union  at  first,  "mutual  interest  and  reciprocal  advantage," 
would  reassert  itself,  and  that  at  no  distant  day  a  new  Union  of  some  sort 
would  again  be  formed. 

And  now,  after  the  severe  chastisement  of  war,  if  the  general  sense  of 
the  whole  country  shall  come  back  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  original 
assumption  that  it  is  for  the  best  interests  of  all  the  States  to  be  so  united, 
as  I  trust  it  will,  the  States  being  ' '  separate  as  the  billows,  but  one  as  the 
sea  " — this  thorn  in  the  body  politic  being  now  removed — I  can  perceive  no 
reason  why,  under  such  a  restoration — the  flag  no  longer  waving  over 
provinces,  but  States — we,  as  a  whole,  with  peace,  commerce,  and  honest 
friendship  with  all  nations  and  entangling  alliances  with  none,  may  not 
enter  upon  a  new  career,  exciting  increased  wonder  in  the  Old  World,  by 
grander  achievements  hereafter  to  be  made  than  any  heretofore  attained, 
by  the  peaceful  and  harmonious  workings  of  our  matchless  system  of 
American  federal  institutions  of  self-government. 

All  this  is  possible,  if  the  hearts  of  the  people  be  right.  It  is  my 
earnest  wish  to  see  it.  Fondly  would  I  gaze  upon  such  a  picture  of  the 
future.  With  what  rapture  may  we  not  suppose  the  spirits  of  our  fathers 
would  hail  its  opening  scenes,  from  their  mansions  above  !  But  if,  instead 
of  all  this,  sectional  passions  shall  continue  to  bear  sway,  if  prejudice 
shall  rule  the  hour,  if  a  conflict  of  classes,  of  capital  and  labor,  or  of  the 
races,  shall  arise,  or  the  embers  of  the  late  war  be  kept  a-glowing  until 
with  new  fuel  they  shall  flame  up  again,  then,  hereafter,  by  some  bard  it 
may  be  sung : 

'*  The  Star  of  Hope  shone  brightest  in  the  West, 
The  hope  of  Liberty,  the  last,  the  best ; 
It,  too,  has  set  upon  her  darkened  shore, 
And  Hope  and  Freedom  light  up  earth  no  more." 


ROBERT  TOOMBS  (1 8 10-1885) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  SECESSION 


WHILE  Phillips  and  Parker  were  vehemently  denouncing  slavery 
in  the  North,  Robert  Toombs,  with  equal  force  and  equal  elo- 
"*  quence,  was  advocating  and  sustaining  it  in  the  South  and  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  of  which  he  was  a  member  from  1853 
to  1861.  A  man  of  deep  political  insight,  he  discerned  the  coming 
war  at  a  long  distance,  and  spoke  in  favor  of  secession  from  1850 
onward.  The  acquisition  of  territory  from  Mexico  he  looked  upon  as 
"  a  policy  which  threatened  the  ruin  of  the  South  and  the  subversion 
of  this  Government."  In  his  opinion  this  movement  pointed  to  con- 
flict and  would  end  in  war.  A  leader  in  the  secession  movement  in 
Georgia,  he  resigned  from  the  Senate  when  that  State  left  the  Union, 
and  was  afterward  a  Confederate  Secretary  of  War,  Senator  and 
brigadier-general. 

THE  CREED  OF  SECESSION 
[As  an  orator  Toombs  was  a  man  of  remarkable  readiness  and  fluency.  His 
daring  was  as  great  as  his  eloquence  was  fervent.  His  speech,  on  resigning  from  the 
Senate  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  his  State,  was  one  of  the  most  audacious  examples  of 
oratory  ever  heard  in  that  body.  He  fairly  flung  down  the  gauntlet  of  war  on  the 
floor  of  the  Senate  chamber  before  leaving  it.  We  give  the  leading  portions  of  this 
farewell  speech.] 

Senators,  the  Constitution  is  a  compact.  It  contains  all  our  obliga- 
tions and  duties  of  the  Federal  Government.  I  am  content,  and  have 
ever  been  content,  to  sustain  it.  While  I  doubt  its  perfection  ;  while  I 
do  not  believe  it  was  a  good  compact ;  and  while  I  never  saw  the  day 
that  I  would  have  voted  for  it  as  a  proposition  de  novo,  yet  I  am  bound  to 
it  by  oath,  and  by  that  common  prudence  which  would  induce  men  to 
abide  by  established  forms,  rather  than  to  rush  into  unknown  dangers. 

I  have  given  to  it,  and  intend  to  give  to  it,  unfaltering  support  and 
allegiance  ;  but  I  choose  to  put  that  allegiance  on  the  true  ground,  not 
138 


ROBERT  TOOMBS  139 

on  the  false  plea  that  anybody's  blood  was  shed  for  it.  I  say  that:  the 
Constitution  is  the  whole  compact.  All  the  obligations,  all  the  chains 
that  fetter  the  limbs  of  my  people,  are  nominated  in  the  bond,  and  they 
wisely  excluded  any  conclusion  against  them  by  declaring  that  the 
powers  not  granted  by  the  Constitution  to  the  United  States,  or  forbidden 
by  it  to  the  States,  belonged  to  the  States  respectively  or  to  the  people. 
Now  I  will  try  it  by  that  standard  ;  I  will  subject  it  to  that  test. 

The  law  of  nature,  the  law  of  justice,  would  say — and  it  is  so 
expounded  by  the  publicists — that  equal  rights  in  the  common  property 
shall  be  enjoyed.  Even  in  a  monarchy,  the  king  cannot  prevent  the  sub- 
jects from  enjoying  equality  in  the  disposition  of  the  public  property. 
Even  in  a  despotic  government  this  principle  is  recognized.  It  was  the 
blood  and  the  money  of  the  whole  people  (says  the  learned  Grotius,  and 
say  all  the  publicists)  which  acquired  the  public  property,  and  therefore 
it  is  not  the  property  of  the  sovereign.  This  right  of  equality  being,  then, 
according  to  justice  and  natural  equity,  a  right  belonging  to  all  States, 
when  did  we  give  it  up  ?  You  say  Congress  has  a  right  to  pass  rules  and 
regulations  concerning  the  Territory  and  other  property  of  the  United 
States.  Very  well.  Does  that  exclude  those  whose  blood  and  money 
paid  for  it  ?  Does  ' '  dispose  of ' '  mean  to  rob  the  rightful  owners  ?  You 
must  show  a  better  title  than  that,  or  a  better  sword  than  we  have. 

But,  you  say,  try  the  right.  I  agree  to  it.  But  how  ?  By  our  judg- 
ment? No,  not  until  the  last  resort.  What  then ;  by  yours?  No,  not 
until  the  same  time.  How  then  try  it  ?  The  South  has  always  said,  by 
the  Supreme  Court.  But  that  is  in  our  favor,  and  Lincoln  says  he  will 
not  stand  that  judgment.  Then  each  must  judge  for  himself  of  the  mode 
and  manner  of  redress.  But  you  deny  us  that  privilege,  and  finally 
reduce  us  to  accepting  your  judgment.  We  decline  it.  You  say  you 
will  enforce  it  by  executing  laws  ;  that  means  your  judgment  of  what  the 
laws  ought  to  be.  Perhaps  you  will  have  a  good  time  of  executing  your 
judgment.  The  Senator  from  Kentucky  comes  to  your  aid,  and  says  he 
can  find  no  constitutional  right  of  secession.  Perhaps  not ;  but  the  Con- 
stitution is  not  the  place  to  look  for  State  rights.  If  that  right  belongs  to 
independent  States,  and  they  did  not  cede  it  to  the  Federal  Government, 
it  is  reserved  to  the  States,  or  to  the  people.  Ask  your  new  commentator 
where  he  gets  your  right  to  judge  for  us.     Is  it  in  the  bond  ?  .    .    .    . 

The  Supreme  Court  have  decided  that,  by  the  Constitution,  we  have 
a  right  to  go  to  the  Territories  and  be  protected  there  with  our  property. 
You  say,  we  cannot  decide  on  the  compact  for  ourselves.  Well,  can  the 
Supreme  Court  decide  it  for  us  ?  Mr.  Lincoln  says  he  does  not  care  what 
the  Supreme  Court  decides,  he  will  turn  us  out  anyhow.     He  says  this  in 


140  ROBERT  TOOMBS 

his  debate  with  the  Honorable  Senator  from  Illinois  (Mr.  Douglas).  I 
have  it  before  me.  He  says  he  would  vote  against  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  Then  you  do  not  accept  that  arbiter.  You  will  not 
take  my  construction  ;  you  will  not  take  the  Supreme  Court  as  an  arbiter  ; 
you  will  not  take  the  practice  of  the  Government ;  you  will  not  take  the 
treaties  under  Jefferson  and  Madison  ;  you  will  not  take  the  opinion  of 
Madison  upon  the  very  question  of  prohibition  in  1820.  What,  then,  will 
you  take  ?  You  will  take  nothing  but  your  own  judgment ;  that  is,  you 
will  not  only  judge  for  3^ourselves,  not  only  discard  the  Court,  discard  our 
construction,  discard  the  practice  of  the  Government,  but  you  will  drive  us 
out  simply  because  you  will  it.  Come  and  do  it !  You  have  sapped  the 
foundations  of  society  ;  you  have  destroyed  almost  all  hope  of  peace.  In 
a  compact  where  there  is  no  common  arbiter,  where  the  parties  finally 
decide  for  themselves,  the  sword  alone  at  last  becomes  the  arbiter  .... 
You  will  not  regard  confederate  obligations ;  you  will  not  regard 
constitutional  obligations  ;  you  will  not  regard  your  oaths.  What,  then, 
am  I  to  do  ?  Am  I  a  freeman  ?  Is  my  State  a  free  State,  to  lie  down 
and  submit  because  political  fossils  raise  the  cry  of  the  glorious  Union  ? 
Too  long  already  have  we  listened  to  this  delusive  song.  We  are  freemen. 
We  have  rights ;  I  have  stated  them.  We  have  wrongs ;  I  have 
recounted  them.  I  have  demonstrated  that  the  party  now  coming  into 
power  has  declared  us  outlaws,  and  is  determined  to  exclude  four  thou- 
sand, millions  of  our  property  from  the  common  Territories  ;  that  it  has 
declared  us  under  the  ban  of  the  empire,  and  out  of  the  protection  of  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  everywhere.  They  have  refused  to  protect  us 
from  invasion  and  insurrection  by  the  Federal  power,  and  the  Constitu- 
tion denies  us  in  the  Union  the  right  either  to  raise  fleets  or  armies  for 
our  own  defence.  All  these  charges  I  have  proven  by  the  record  ;  and  I 
put  them  before  the  civilized  world,  and  demand  the  judgment  of  to-day, 
of  to-morrow,  of  distant  ages,  and  of  Heaven  itself,  upon  the  justice  of 
these  causes.  I  am  content,  whatever  it  be,  to  peril  all  in  so  noble,  so 
holy  a  cause.  We  have  appealed,  time  and  time  again,  for  these  consti- 
tutional rights.  You  have  refused  them.  We  appeal  again.  Restore  us 
these  rights  as  we  had  them,  as  your  court  adjudges  them  to  be,  just 
as  all  our  people  have  said  they  are  ;  redress  these  flagrant  wrongs,  seen  j 
of  all  men,  and  it  will  restore  fraternity,  and  peace,  and  unity  to  all  of 
us.  Refuse  them,  and  what  then?  We  shall  then  ask  you,  "Let  us 
depart  in  peace."  Refuse  that,  and  you  present  us  war.  We  accept  it ; 
and,  inscribing  upon  our  banners  the  glorious  words,  "  Liberty  and 
equality,"  we  will  trust  to  the  blood  of  the  brave  and  the  God  of  battles, 
for  security  and  tranquillity. 


CHARLES  SUMNER  (J8U-J874) 

"WEBSTER'S  FAMOUS  SUCCESSOR 


i 


|N  the  22d  of  May,  1856,  took  place  an  event  which  formed  the 
legitimate  climax  of  the  long  and  virulent  slavery  contest  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States.  On  that  day  Preston  S.  Brooks,  a 
South  Carolina  Representative,  attacked  Charles  Sumner,  a  Massachu- 
setts Senator,  in  his  seat  in  the  Senate  chamber,  beating  him  on  the 
head  with  a  heavy  cane  till  he  became  insensible,  and  injuring  him  so 
seriously  that  it  was  years  before  he  fully  recovered.  It  was  the  appeal 
to  violence ;  the  first  blow  in  the  Civil  War.  It  indicated  that  the 
conflict  was  passing  the  limits  of  'debate  and  argument,  and  entering 
the  arena  of  physical  force.  Injured  as  he  was,  Sumner  was  not 
disarmed.  On  his  return  to  the  Senate  in  1859,  his  unrelenting 
hostility  to  the  *'  peculiar  institution ''  was  again  manifested  in  a 
speech  on  ''  The  Barbarism  of  Slavery,''  which  produced  an  immense 
effect.  Sumner's  career  in  the  Senate  began  in  1850,  when  he  was 
elected  to  succeed  Daniel  Webster,  then  made  Secretary  of  State.  He 
continued  there  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  taking  an  active 
part  in  the  debates  during  the  war  and  the  reconstruction  period  that 
followed.  He  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations 
from  1861  to  1870,  and  lived  to  witness  the  triumph  of  the  principles 
for  which  he  so  long  and  strenuously  contended.  Among  his  impor- 
tant services  was  the  production  of  the  Freedman's  Bureau  Bill. 

Sumner  holds  rank  with  Webste^  and  Everett,  as  one  of  the  three 
greatest  orators  of  New  England.  In  oratory  he  was  a  notable  repre- 
sentative of  the  academic  method.  Eloquence  with  him  was  not 
native,  but  acquired ;  the  result  of  special  study  and  mental  cultiva- 
tion. Superior  to  Webster  in  scholarship,  he  was  not  his  equal  in 
native  powers  of  oratory,  or  in  the  art  of  moving  men's  minds.     Yet 

141 


142  CHARLES  SUMNER 

his  influence  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  was  great,  the  more  so  as 
his  honor  continued  unimpeachable  and  his  moral  dignity  was  elevated 
far  above  that  of  many  of  his  Congressional  associates. 

THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS 

[Sumner  first  won  fame  as  a  great  orator  on  the  4th  of  July,  1835,  when  he 
delivered  in  Boston  an  oration  on  "  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations,"  which  was  very 
widely  read,  attracting  much  attention  not  alone  in  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
but  in  Europe  as  well.  Its  purpose  was  the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  peace.  We 
select  from  this  fine  example  of  his  eloquence  its  effective  deprecation  of  the  worship 
of  military  glory  and  the  horrors  of  war,  and  its  statement  of  the  elements  of  true 
national  greatness.] 

In  our  age  there  can  be  no  peace  that  is  not  honorable  ;  there  can  be 
no  war  that  is  not  dishonorable.  The  true  honor  of  a  nation  is  to  be 
found  only  in  deeds  of  justice,  and  in  the  happiness  of  its  people,  all  of 
which  are  inconsistent  with  war.  In  the  clear  eye  of  Christian  judgment 
vain  are  its  victories  ;  infamous  are  its  spoils.  He  is  the  true  benefactor 
and  alone  worthy  of  honor  who  brings  comfort  where  before  was  wretch- 
edness ;  who  dries  the  tears  of  sorrow ;  who  pours  oil  into  the  wounds  of 
the  unfortunate  ;  who  feeds  the  hungry  and  clothes  the  naked ;  who 
unlooses  the  fetters  of  the  slave;  who  does  justice  ;  who  enlightens  the 
ignorant ;  who  enlivens  and  exalts,  by  his  virtuous  genius,  in  art,  in  liter- 
ature, in  science,  the  hours  of  life  ;  who,  by  words  or  actions,  inspires  a 
love  for  God  and  for  man.  This  is  the  Christian  hero  ;  this  is  the  man  of 
iionor  in  a  Christian  land.  He  is  no  benefactor,  nor  deserving  of  honor, 
whatever  may  be  his  worldly  renown,  whose  life  is  passed  in  acts  of  force; 
who  renounces  the  great  law  of  Christian  brotherhood  ;  whose  vocation  is 
blood ;  who  triumphs  in  battle  over  his  fellow-men.  '■  Well  may  old  Sir 
Thomas  Browne  exclaim  :  *  *  The  world  does  not  know  its  greatest  men  ; ' ' 
for  thus  far  it  has  chiefly  discerned  the  violent  brood  of  battle,  the  armed 
men  springing  up  from  the  dragon's  teeth  sown  by  Hate,  and  cared  little 
for  the  truly  good  men,  children  of  Love,  Crom wells  guiltless  of  their 
country's  blood,  whose  steps  on  earth  have  been  as  noiseless  as  an  Angel's 
wing^.    .    .    . 

Thus  far  mankind  has  worshiped  in  military  glory  an  idol  compared 
with  which  the  colossal  images  of  ancient  Babylon  or  modern  Hindostan 
are  but  toys  ;  and  we,  in  this  blessed  day  of  light,  in  this  blessed  land  of  j 
freedom,  are  among  the  idolaters.  The  heaven-descending  injunction, .■ 
"  Know  thyself,"  still  speaks  to  an  ignorant  world  from  the  distant  letters 
of  gold  at  Delphi— know  thyself ;  know  that  the  moral  nature  is  the  most 
noble  part  of  man  ^  t^ftfiseending  far  that  part  which  is  the  seat  of  passion, 


1 


CHARLES  SUMNER  148 

strife,  and  war;  nobler  than  the  intellect  itself.  Suppose  war  to  be 
decided  by  force,  where  is  the  glory  ?  Suppose  it  to  be  decided  by  chance, 
where  is  the  glory  ?  No  ;  true  greatness  consists  in  imitating,  as  near  as 
possible  for  finite  man,  the  perfections  of  an  Infinite  Creator;  above  all, 
in  cultivating  those  highest  perfections,  justice  and  love — justice,  which 
like  that  of  St.  Louis,  shall  not  swerve  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left  ; 
love,  which  like  that  of  William  Penn,  shall  regard  all  mankind  of  kin. 
"  God  is  angry,"  says  Plato,  "  when  anyone  censures  a  man  like  himself, 
or  praises  a  man  of  an  opposite  character.  And  the  Godlike  man  is  the 
good  man. "  And  again,  in  another  of  those  lovely  dialogues,  vocal  with 
immortal  truth,  *'  Nothing  resembles  God  more  than  that  man  among  us 
who  has  arrived  at  the  highest  degree  of  justice.'*  The  true  greatness  of 
nations  is  in  those  qualities  which  constitute  the  greatness  of  the  individ- 
ual. It  is  not  to  be  found  in  extent  of  territory,  nor  in  vastness  of  popu- 
lation ;  nor  in  wealth  ;  not  in  fortifications,  or  armies,  or  navies ;  not  in 
the  phosphorescent  glare  of  fields  of  battle ;  not  in  Golgothas,  though 
covered  by  monuments  that  kiss  the  clouds  :  for  all  these  are  the  creatures 
and  representatives  of  those  qualities  of  our  nature  which  are  unlike  any- 
thing in  God's  nature. 

Nor  is  the  greatness  of  nations  to  be  found  in  triumphs  of  intellect 
alone ;  in  literature,  learning,  science  or  art.  The  polished  Greeks,  the 
world's  masters  in  the  delights  of  language,  and  in  range  of  thought ; 
and  the  commanding  Romans,  overawing  the  earth  with  their  power ; 
were  little  more  than  splendid  savages  ;  and  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.,  of 
France,  spanning  so  long  a  period  of  ordinary  worldly  magnificence, 
thronged  by  marshals  bending  under  military  laurels,  enlivened  by  the 
unsurpassed  comedy  of  Moliere,  dignified  by  the  tragic  genius  of  Comeille, 
illumined  by  the  splendors  of  Bossuet,  is  degraded  by  immoralities  that 
cannot  be  mentioned  without  a  blush,  by  a  heartlessness  in  comparison 
with  which  the  ice  of  Nova  Zembla  is  warm,  and  by  a  succession  of  deeds 
of  injustice  not  to  be  washed  out  by  the  tears  of  all  the  recording  angels 
ofjieaven. 

)  The  true  greatness  of  a  nation  cannot  be  in  triumphs  of  the  intellect 
alone.  Literature  and  art  may  widen  the  sphere  of  its  influence ;  they 
may  adorn  it ;  but  they  are  in  their  nature  but  accessories.  The  true 
grandeur  of  humanity  is  in  moral  elevation,  sustained,  enlightened,  and 
decorated  by  the  intellect  of  man.  The  truest  tokens  of  this  grandeur  in  a 
state  are  the  diffusion  of  the  greatest  happiness  among  the  greatest  num- 
ber, and  that  passionless,  Godlike  justice,  which  controls  the  relations  of 
the  state  to  other  states,  and  to  all  the  people  who  are  committed  to  its 
charge 


144  CHARLES  SUMNER 

/ 

As  we  cast  our  eyes  over  the  history  bf  nations,  we  discern  with  hor- 
ror the  succession  of  murderous  slaughters  by  which  their  progress  has 
been  marked.  As  the  hunter  traces  the  wild  beast,  when  pursued  to  his 
lair,  by  the  drops  of  blood  on  >h"e  earth  ;  so  we  follow  man,  faint,  weary, 
staggering  with  wounds,  through  the  black  forest  of  the  past,  which  he  has 
reddened  with  his  gore.  Oh  !  let  it  not  be  in  the  future  ages  as  in  those 
which  we  now  contemplate.  Let  the  grandeur  of  man  be  discerned  in  the 
blessings  which  he  has  secured ;  in  the  good  he  has  accomplished  ;  in  the  tri- 
umphs of  benevolence  and  justice  ;  in  the  establishment  of  perpetual  peace. 
t  ^"FiS  the  ocean  washes  every  shore,  and  clasps  with  all-embracing  arms 
'every  land,  while  it  bears  upon  its  heaving  bosom  the  products  of  various 
climes ;  so  peace  surrounds,  protects,  and  upholds  all  other  blessings. 
Without  it,  commerce  is  vain,  the  ardor  of  industry  is  restrained,  happi- 
ness is  blasted,  virtue  sickens  and  dies. 

A^nd  peace  has  its  own  peculiar  victories,  in  comparison  with  which 
Marathb^j  and  Bannockburn  and  Bunker  Hill,  fields  held  sacred  in  the  his- 
tory of  human  freedom,  shall  lose  their  lustre.  Our  own  Washinton  rises 
to  a  truly  heavenly  stature, — not  when  we  follow  him  over  the  ice*  of  the 
Delaware  to  the  capture  of  Trenton  ;  not  when  we  behold  him  victorious 
over  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown, — but  when  we  regard  him,  in  noble  defer- 
ence to  justice,  refusing  the  kingly  crown  which  a  faithless  soldiery  prof- 
fered, and  at  a  later  day  upholding  the  peaceful  neutrality  of  the  country, 
while  he  received  unmoved  the  clamor  of  the  people  wickedly  crying  for 
war.  What  glory  of  battle  in  England's  annals  will  not  fade  by  the  side 
of  that  great  act  of  justice,  by  which  her  legislature,  at  a  cost  of  one 
hundred  million  dollars,  gave  freedom  to  eight  hundred  thousand  slaves  ! 
And  when  the  day  shall  come  (may  these  eyes  be  gladdened  by  its  beams  !) 
that  shall  witness  an  act  of  greater  justice  still,  the  peaceful  emancipation 
of  three  millions  of  our  fellow-men,  ''  guilty  of  a  skin  not  colored  as  our 
own,"  now  held  in  gloomy  bondage,  under  the  Constitution  of  our 
country,  then  shall  there  be  a  victory,  in  comparison  with  which  that  of 
Bunker  Hill  shall  be  as  a  farthing  candle  held  up  to  the  sun.  That  vic- 
tory shall  need  no  monument  of  stone.  It  shall  be  written  on  the  grate- 
ful hearts  of  uncounted  multitudes,  that  shall  proclaim  it  to  the  latest  gen- 
eration. It  shall  be  one  of  the  links  in  the  golden  chain  by  which 
humanity  shall  connect  itself  with  the  throne  of  God.  ^  . 
f^  As  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  are  higher  than  the  grass  of  the  valley  ;  as 
the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth  ;  as  man  is  higher  than  the  beasts 
of  the  field ;  as  the  angels  are  higher  than  man ;  as  he  that  ruleth  his 
spirit  is  higher  than  he  that  taketh  a  city  ;  so  are  the  virtues  and  victories 
of  peace  higher  than  the  virtues  and  victories  of  war.  \ 


WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD  (t80t-J872) 

THE  WAR-TIME  SECRETAEY  OF  STATE 


i 


|N  that  fatal  April  day  in  1865,  when  Lincoln  fell  victim  to  the 
bullet  of  an  assassin,  William  H.  Seward,  his  Secretary  of 
State,  then  on  a  bed  of  sickness,  narrowly  escaped  a  similar 
fate,  he  being  stabbed  in  several  places,  and  only  saved  from  death  by 
the  courage  of  the  old  soldier  who  acted  as  his  nurse.  The  assassins 
were  shrewd  in  selecting  Seward  for  one  of  their  intended  victims, 
since  in  his  special  field  of  duty  he  was  almost  as  important  a  figure 
in  the  government  as  Lincoln  himself.  Five  years  before,  when  Lin- 
coln was  first  nominated  for  the  Presidency,  Seward  was  really  the 
most  prominent  man  in  the  party — too  prominent,  as  it  appeared,  to 
receive  the  nomination  in  the  face  of  the  enemies  he  had  made. 
Deeply  disappointed  as  he  undoubtedly  was,  he  did  not  permit  his 
private  feeling  to  conflict  with  his  public  duty,  but  did  his  utmost  to 
check  the  schemes  of  the  conspirators  in  Buchanan's  cabinet,  and 
smooth  the  way  for  the  new  President.  Chosen  as  Secretary  of  State 
by  Lincoln,  he  doubtless  accepted  the  office  with  the  idea  that  he  would 
be  "  the  power  behind  the  throne,"  and  exert  a  controlling  influence 
over  the  inexperienced  Westerner.  Disappointed  in  this  again,  he  fell 
gracefully  into  his  true  vocation,  that  of  a  faithful  counsellor  of  the 
President.  In  his  sphere  of  duty  jio  man  could  have  been  more 
efficient  and  his  skillful  handling  of  the  Trent  affair  and  the  French 
occuption  of  Mexico,  saved  the  country  from  dangerous  foreign  com- 
plications at  a  time  when  it  needed  all  its  energies  at  home.  The  war 
ended,  Seward,  who  remained  Secretary  of  State  under  Johnson, 
quickly  cleared  Mexico  of  the  French  invaders.  Another  great  service 
he  did  and  one  for  which  he  was  then  severely  criticised,  was  the  pur- 
chase of  Alaska,  whose  actual  value  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  perceive. 
10  146 


146  WILLIAM    H.  SEWARD 

While  in  the  Senate  he  took  an  advanced  position  among  the 
opponents  to  slavery,  a  position  which  he  firmly  held  throughout 
the  troublous  times  that  followed,  despite  all  criticism  and  abuse. 
During  this  period  his  oratory  made  him  a  power  in  the  Senate,  while 
the  views  expressed  by  him  formed  a  declaration  of  principles  upon 
which  all  sections  of  anti-slavery  men  could  agree.  As  regards  his 
powers,  a  marked  example  of  them  was  shown  in  1846,  when  he 
defended  a  negro  murderer  against  whom  a  bitter  popular  feeling 
existed,  greatly  endangering  his  popularity  by  his  persistence  in  this 
charitable  action,  though  he  much  enhanced  his  reputation  by  his 
treatment  of  this  case.  Mr.  Gladstone  said  to  Charles  Sumner,  "  Mr. 
Seward's  argument  in  the  Freeman  case  is  the  greatest  forensic  effort  in 
the  English  language."  He  would  not  even  except  Erskine  in  this 
opinion,  which  was  certainly  a  highly  flattering  one,  coming  from 
such  a  source. 

AMERICANS  TRUE  GREATNESS 

[As  an  example  of  Seward's  oratory  we  offer  the  following  selection,  taken  from 
one  of  his  addresses,  which  is  of  much  interest  as  showing  his  elevated  conception  of 
the  mission  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  perils  which  threatened  the  development 
of  this  mission.  It  was  by  working  at  the  bottom,  not  at  the  top,  by  training  the 
young  in  the  exercise  of  public  virtue,  that  the  great  Republic  was  to  be  saved  and 
its  mission  accomplished.] 

At  present  we  behold  only  the  rising  of  our  sun  of  empire, — only  the 
fair  seeds  and  beginnings  of  a  great  nation.  Whether  that  glowing  orb 
shall  attain  to  a  meridian  height,  or  fall  suddenly  from  its  glorious  sphere  ; 
whether  those  prolific  seeds  shall  mature  into  autumnal  ripeness,  or  shall 
perish,  yielding  no  harvest,  depends  on  God's  will  and  providence.  But 
God's  will  and  providence  operate  not  by  casualty  or  caprice,  but  by 
fixed  and  revealed  laws.  If  we  would  secure  the  greatness  set  before  us, 
we  must  find  the  way  which  those  laws  indicate,  and  keep  within  it.  That 
way  is  new  and  all  untried.  We  departed  early,  we  departed  at  the 
beginning,  from  the  beaten  track  of  national  ambition.  Our  lot  was  cast 
in  an  age  of  revolution — a  revolution  which  was  to  bring  all  mankim 
from  a  state  of  servitude  to  the  exercise  of  self  government  ;  from  undei 
the  tyranny  of  physical  force  to  the  gentle  sway  of  opinion  ;  from  unde 
subjection  to  matter  to  dominion  over  nature. 

It  was  ours  to  lead  the  way,  to  take  up  the  cross  of  republicanism  an< 
bear  it  before  the  nations,  to  fight  its  earliest  battles,  to  enjoy  its  earliest 
triumphs,  to  illustrate  its  purifying  and  elevating  virtues,  and  by  oi 
courage  and  resolut'on,  our  moderation  and  our  magnanimity,  to  cheer" 


WILLIAM    H.  SEWARD  147 

and  sustain  its  future  followers  through  the  baptism  of  blood  and  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  fire.  A  mission  so  noble  and  benevolent  demands  a  generous 
and  self-denying  enthusiasm.  Our  greatness  is  to  be  won  by  beneficence 
without  ambition.  We  are  in  danger  of  losing  that  holy  seal.  We  are 
surrounded  by  temptations.  Our  dwellings  become  palaces,  and  our  vil- 
lages are  transformed,  as  if  by  magic,  into  great  cities.  Fugitives  from 
famine,  and  oppression,  and  the  sword  crowd  our  shores,  and  proclaim  to 
us  that  we  alone  are  free,  and  great,  and  happy.  Our  empire  enlarges. 
The  continent  and  its  islands  seem  ready  to  fall  within  our  grasp,  and 
more  than  even  fabulous  wealth  opens  under  our  feet.  No  public  virtue 
can  withstand,  none  ever  encountered,  such  seductions  as  these.  Our 
own  virtue  and  moderation  must  be  renewed  and  fortified,  under  circum- 
stances so  new  and  peculiar. 

Where  shall  we  seek  the  influence  adequate  to  a  task  so  arduous  as 
this  ?  Shall  we  invoke  the  press  and  the  pulpit  ?  They  only  reflect  the 
actual  condition  of  the  public  morals,  and  cannot  change  them.  Shall 
we  resort  to  the  executive  authority  ?  The  time  has  passed  when  it  could 
compose  and  modify  the  political  elements  around  it.  Shall  we  go  to  the 
Senate?  Conspiracies,  seditions,  and  corruptions  in  all  free  countries 
have  begun  there.  Where,  then,  shall  we  go  to  find  an  agency  that  can 
uphold  and  renovate  declining  public  virtue  ?  Where  should  we  go  but 
there  where  all  republican  virtue  begins  and  must  end ;  where  the 
Promethean  fire  is  ever  to  be  rekindled  until  it  shall  finally  expire  ;  where 
motives  are  formed  and  passions  disciplined  ?  To  the  domestic  fireside 
and  humbler  school,  where  the  American  citizen  is  trained.  Instruct  him 
there  that  it  will  not  be  enough  that  he  can  claim  for  his  country  I^acedae- 
monian  heroism ,  but  that  more  than  Spartan  valor  and  more  than  Roman 
magnificence  is  required  of  her.  Go,  then,  ye  laborers  in  a  noble  cause  ; 
gather  the  young  Catholic  and  the  young  Protestant  alike  into  the  nursery 
of  freedom,  and  teach  them  there  that,  although  religion  has  many  and 
different  shrines  on  which  may  be  made  the  oflering  of  a  *'  broken  spirit  " 
which  God  will  not  despise,  yet  that  their  country  has  appointed  only  one 
altar  and  one  sacrifice  for  all  her  sons,  and  that  ambition  and  avarice  must 
be  slain  on  that  altar,  for  it  is  consecrated  to  humanity. 


FREDERICK  DOUGLASS  (181 74895) 

THE  SLAVE-BORN  ORATOR 


AMONG  those  who  spoke  for  the  rights  of  man  and  the  freedom 
of  the  slave  in  the  period  "  before  the  war,''  there  is  one  to 
"^  whom  we  must  accord  peculiar  credit ;  Frederick  Douglass,  a 
member  of  the  race  whose  cause  he  advocated,  born  a  slave  himself,  yet 
escaping  from  his  bonds,  becoming  self-educated,  and  developing  a  gift 
for  oratory  that  gave  him  a  high  standing  in  the  ranks  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  human  slavery.  He  stood  alone,  the  first  and  foremost  Ameri- 
can orator  of  his  race,  a  fact  which  in  itself  gave  him  marked 
prominence.  Yet  it  was  not  solely  as  a  prodigy  that  he  won  reputa- 
tion, for  he  had  true  power  in  oratory  ;  being  a  man  of  intellect  and 
feeling,  with  fine  powers  of  expression  and  much  self-control.  His 
lectures  against  the  slave  system,  begun  about  1841,  attracted  wide 
attention,  and  on  his  visit  to  England  in  1845  his  earnest  and  fluent 
eloquence  drew  large  audiences.  He  edited  a  newspaper.  The  North 
Star,  at  Rochester,  New  York,  and  after  1870  held  several  positions 
under  the  government,  the  last  being  that  of  Minister  to  Haiti,  in 
1889-1891. 

FREE  SPEECH  IN  BOSTON 

[In  1841,  when  Douglass  delivered  at  Music  Hall,  Boston,  the  speech  whose 
closing  portions  we  give,  free-speech  in  certain  directions  was  a  nondescript  in  that 
famous  centre  of  intellect  and  reform.  Men  were  free  to  speak,  if  they  accorded  in , 
views  with  the  multitude,  but  addresses  in  favor  of  slavery  abolition  were  tabooed,  and^ 
those  who  indulged  in  them  did  so  at  imminent  peril.  The  anti-slavery  doctrine, 
which  was  to  grow  so  immensely  in  the  two  following  decades,  was  still  in  its  infancy,  j 
and  Boston  itself  was  a  strong  seat  of  the  pro-slavery  element.  In  the  following  wore 
Douglass  scores  it  for  its  lack  of  liberal  sentiment.] 

Boston  is  a  great  city — and  Music  Hall  has  a  fame  almost  as  exten- 
sive as  that  of  Boston.     Nowhere  more  than  here  have  the  principles  ol 
14S 


FREDERICK  DOUGLASS  149 

human  freedom  been  expounded.  But  for  the  circumstances  already  men- 
tioned, it  would  seem  almost  presumption  for  me  to'  say  anything  here 
about  these  principles.  And  yet,  even  here,  in  Boston,  the  moral  atmos- 
phere is  dark  and  heavy.  The  principles  of  human  liberty,  even  if  cor- 
rectly apprehended,  find  but  limited  support  in  this  hour  of  trial.  The 
world  moves  slowly,  and  Boston  is  much  like  the  world.  We  thought  the 
principle  of  free  speech  was  an  accomplished  fact.  Here,  if  nowhere  else, 
we  thought  the  right  of  the  people  to  assemble  and  to  express  their  opin- 
ion was  secure.  Dr.  Channing  had  defended  the  right,  Mr.  Garrison  had 
practically  asserted  the  right,  and  Theodore  Parker  had  maintained  it 
with  steadiness  and  fidelity  to  the  last. 

But  here  we  are  to-day  contending  for  what  we  thought  was  gained 
years  ago.  The  mortifying  and  disgraceful  fact  stares  us  in  the  face,  that 
though  P'aneuil  Hall  and  Bunker  Hill  Monument  stand,  freedom  of  speech 
is  struck  down.  No  lengthy  detail  of  facts  is  needed.  They  are  already 
notorious  ;  far  more  so  than  will  be  wished  ten  years  hence  .... 

No  right  was  deemed  by  the  fathers  of  the  Government  more  sacred 
than  the  right  of  speech.  It  was  in  their  eyes,  as  in  the  eyes  of  all 
thoughtful  men,  the  great  moral  renovator  of  society  and  government. 
Liberty  is  meaningless  where  the  right  to  utter  one's  thoughts  and  opin- 
ions has  ceased  to  exist.  That,  of  all  rights,  is  the  dread  of  tyrants.  It 
is  the  right  which  they  first  of  all  strike  down.  They  know  its  power. 
Thrones,  dominions,  principalities,  and  powers  founded  in  injustice  and 
wrong  are  sure  to  tremble  if  men  are  allowed  to  reason  of  righteousness, 
temperance,  and  of  a  judgment  to  come  in  their  presence.  Slavery  can- 
not tolerate  free  speech.  Five  years  of  its  exercise  would  banish  the 
auction  block  and  break  every  chain  in  the  South.  They  will  have  none 
of  it  there,  for  they  have  the  power.     But  shall  it  be  so  here  ? 

Even  here  in  Boston,  and  among  the  friends  of  freedom,  we  hear  two 
voices  ;  one  denouncing  the  mob  that  broke  up  our  meeting  on  Monday 
as  a  base  and  cowardly  outrage  ;  and  another  deprecating  and  regretting 
the  holding  of  such  a  meeting,  by  such  men,  at  such  a  time.  We  are  told 
that  the  meeting  was  ill-timed,  and  the  parties  to  it  unwise. 

Why,  what  is  the  matter  with  us  ?  Are  we  going  to  palliate  and 
excuse  a  palpable  and  flagrant  outrage  on  the  right  of  speech,  by  implying 
that  only  a  particular  description  of  persons  should  exercise  that  right  ? 
Are  we,  at  such  a  time,  when  a  great  principle  has  been  struck  down,  to 
quench  the  moral  indignation  which  the  deed  excites  by  casting  reflections 
upon  those  on  whose  persons  the  outrage  has  been  committed  ?  After  all 
the  arguments  for  liberty  to  which  Boston  has  listened  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  has  she  yet  to  learn  that  the  time  to  assert  a  right  is 


150 


FREDERICK  DOUGLASS 


the  time  when  the  right  itself  is  called  in  question,  and  that  the  men  of  all 
others  to  assert  it  are  the  men  to  whom  the  right  has  been  denied  ? 

It  would  be  no  vindication  of  the  right  of  speech  to  prove  that  certain 
gentlemen  of  great  distinction,  eminent  for  their  learning  and  ability,  are 
allowed  to  freely  express  their  opinions  on  all  subjects — including  the 
subject  of  slavery.  Such  a  vindication  would  need,  itself,  to  be  vindi- 
cated. It  would  add  insult  to  injury.  Not  even  an  old-fashioned  aboli- 
tion meeting  could  vindicate  that  right  in  Boston  just  now.  There  can 
be  no  right  of  speech  where  any  man,  however  lifted  up,  or  however 
humble,  however  young,  or  however  old,  is  overawed  by  force,  and  com- 
pelled to  suppress  his  honest  sentiments. 

Equally  clear  is  the  right  to  hear.  To  suppress  free  speech  is  a  double 
wrong.  It  violates  the  rights  of  the  hearer  as  well  as  those  of  the  speaker. 
It  is  just  as  criminal  to  rob  a  man  of  his  right  to  speak  and  hear  as  it  would 
be  to  rob  him  of  his  money.  I  have  no  doubt  that  Boston  will  vindicate 
this  right.  But  in  order  to  do  so  there  must  be  no  concessions  to  the 
enemy.  When  a  man  is  allowed  to  speak  because  he  is  rich  and  power- 
ful, it  aggravates  the  crime  of  denying  the  right  to  the  poor  and  humble. 

The  principle  must  rest  upon  its  own  proper  basis.  And  until  the 
right  is  accorded  to  the  humblest  as  freely  as  to  the  most  exalted  citizen, 
the  government  of  Boston  is  but  an  empty  name,  and  its  freedom  is  a 
mockery.  A  man's  right  to  speak  does  not  depend  upon  where  he  was 
born  or  upon  his  color.  The  simple  quality  of  manhood  is  the  solid  basis 
of  the  right — and  there  let  it  rest  forever. 


HENRY  WINTER  DAVIS  (I8t 74865) 

A  SERVANT  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


mN  1859,  when  Henry  Winter  Davis,  a  Baltimore  Representative 
in  Congress,  voted  for  the  Republican  candidate  for  Speaker, 
he  gave  high  offence  to  the  Maryland  legislators,  who  passed 
resolutions  declaring  that  he  had  forfeited  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple. Their  wrathful  action  failed  to  rouse  alarm  in  the  breast  of  its 
subject.  In  a  speech  before  the  House  Davis  disdainfully  bade  them 
to  take  their  message  back  to  their  masters,  the  people,  to  whom  alone 
he  was  responsible.  The  people  justified  his  trust  in  them  by  re-elect- 
ing him  as  their  servant  in  Congress. 

Davis  was  a  man  of  much  eloquence ;  of  an  intellect  keen,  inven- 
tive and  capable  of  sustained  effort.  A  Whig  in  politics,  he  joined 
the  American  Party  after  the  demise  of  the  Whigs,  and  in  1861 
became  an  ardent  Republican,  earnestly  loyal  to  the  Union.  In  a 
speech  in  February  of  that  year  he  denounced  the  supineness  of  the 
Buchanan  administration.  This  stand  he  firmly  and  zealously  main- 
tained throughout  the  war,  and  after  its  end,  in  1865,  made  an  impor- 
tant and  eloquent  speech  in  Chicago  in  favor  of  Negro  suffrage.  He 
died  in  December  of  the  same  year. 

THE  PERIL  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

[It  needed  no  small  courage  for  a  native  of  a  slave  State,  in  which  sympathy 
with  the  doctrine  of  secession  was  at  that  time  strongly  declared >  to  come  out  in  such 
ardent  advocacy  of  the  preservation  of  the  Union  as  Henry  Winter  Davis  did  in  his 
notable  speech  of  February  2,  i86i.  He  had  been  opposed  to  forcing  the  issue 
between  North  and  South,  but  no  sooner  was  secession  decreed  than  he  took  as  firm  a 
stand  for  the  supremacy  of  the  National  Government  as  any  member  from  the  most 
extreme  anti-slavery  district  could  have  done,  and  criticised  the  senile  weakness  of 
the  Buchanan  administration  in  words  that  must  have  stung  like  adders.  We  give 
the  pith  of  this  vigorous  address.] 

151 


152  HENRY  WINTER  DAVIS 

We  are  at  the  end  of  the  insane  revel  of  partisan  license,  which,  for 
thirty  years,  has  in  the  United  States  worn  the  mask  of  government.  We 
are  about  to  close  the  masquerade  by  the  dance  of  death 

Within  two  months  after  a  formal,  peaceful,  regular  election  of  the 
Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States,  in  which  the  whole  body  of  the 
people  of  every  State  competed  with  zeal  for  the  prize,  without  any  new 
event  intervening,  without  any  new  grievances  alleged,  without  any  new 
menaces  having  been  made,  we  have  seen,  in  the  short  course  of  one 
month,  a  small  portion  of  the  population  of  six  States  transcend  the 
bounds  at  a  single  leap  at  once  of  the  State  and  the  National  Constitu- 
tions ;  usurp  the  land  ;  usurp  the  extraordinary  prerogative  of  repealing 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land  ;  exclude  the  great  mass  of  their  fellow-citi- 
zens from  the  protection  of  the  Constitution  ;  declare  themselves  emanci- 
pated from  the  obligations  which  the  Constitution  pronounces  to  be 
supreme  over  them  and  over  their  laws  ;  arrogate  to  themselves  all  the 
prerogatives  of  independent  power  ;  rescind  the  acts  of  cession  of  the  pub- 
lic property ;  occupy  the  public  offices  ;  seize  the  fortresses  of  the  United 
States  confided  to  the  faith  of  the  people  among  whom  they  were  placed  ; 
embezzle  the  public  arms  concentrated  there  for  the  defence  of  the  United 
States  ;  array  thousands  of  men  in  arms  against  the  United  States  ;  and 
actually  wage  war  on  the  Union  by  besieging  two  of  their  fortresses  and 
firing  on  a  vessel  bearing,  under  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  reinforce- 
ments and  provisions  to  one  of  them. 

The  very  boundaries  of  right  and  wrong  seem  obliterated  when  we  see 
a  cabinet  minister  engaged  for  months  in  deliberately  changing  the  distri- 
bution of  public  arms  to  places  in  the  hands  of  those  about  to  resist  the 
public  authority,  so  as  to  place  within  their  grasp  means  of  waging  war 
against  the  United  States  greater  than  they  ever  used  against  a  foreign 
foe ;  and  another  cabinet  minister — still  holding  his  commission  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  still  a  confidential  adviser  of  the  President, 
still  bound  by  his  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States — 
himself  a  commissioner  from  his  own  State  to  another  of  the  United 
States  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  and  extending  another  part  of  the 
same  great  scheme  of  rebellion  ;  and  the  doom  of  the  Republic  seems 
sealed  when  the  President,  surrounded  by  such  ministers,  permits,  with- 
out rebuke,  the  Government  to  be  betrayed,  neglects  the  solemn  warning 
ot  the  first  soldier  of  the  age  till  almost  every  fort  is  a  prey  to  domestic 
treason,  and  accepts  assurances  of  peace  in  his  time  at  the  expense  of  leav- 
ing the  national  honor  unguarded.  His  message  gives  aid  and  comfort  to 
the  enemies  of  the  Union,  by  avowing  his  inability  to  maintain  its  integ- 
rity ^  and,  paralyzed  and  stupefied,  he  stands  amid  the  crash  of  the  falling 


HENRY  WINTER  DAVIS  153 

Republic,  still  muttering,   *'  Not  in  my  time,  not  in  my  time;    after  me 
the  deluge  !  "  .    .    .    . 

Mr.  Speaker,  we  are  driven  to  one  of  two  alternatives  ;  we  must 
recognize  what  we  have  been  told  more  than  once  upon  this  floor  is  an 
accomplished  fact — the  independence  of  the  rebellious  States — or  we  must 
refuse  to  acknowledge  it,  and  accept  all  the  responsibilities  that  attach  to 
that  refusal.  Recognize  them  !  Abandon  the  Gulf  and  coast  of  Mexico; 
surrender  the  forts  of  the  United  States  ;  yield  the  privilege  of  free  com- 
merce and  free  intercourse  ;  strike  down  the  guarantees  of  the  Constitu- 
tion for  our  fellow-citizens  in  all  that  wide  region  ;  create  a  thousand 
miles  of  interior  frontier  to  be  furnished  with  internal  custom-houses,  and 
armed  with  internal  forts,  themselves  to  be  a  prey  to  the  next  caprice  of 
State  sovereignty ;  organize  a  vast  standing  army,  ready  at  a  moment's 
warning  to  resist  aggression  ;  create  upon  our  southern  boundary  a  perpet- 
ual foothold  for  foreign  powers,  whenever  caprice,  ambition,  or  hostility 
may  see  fit  to  invite  the  despot  of  France  or  the  aggressive  power  of 
England  to  attack  us  upon  our  undefended  frontier  ;  sever  that  unity  of 
territory  which  we  have  spent  millions  and  labored  through  three  genera- 
tions to  create  and  establish  ;  pull  down  the  flag  of  the  United  States  and 
take  a  lower  station  among  the  nations  of  the  earth ;  abandon  the  high 
prerogative  of  leading  the  march  of  freedom,  the  hope  of  struggling 
nationalities,  the  terror  of  frowning  tyrants,  the  boast  of  the  world,  the 
light  of  liberty  ;  to  become  the  sport  and  prey  of  despots  whose  thrones 
we  consolidate  by  our  fall ;  to  be  greeted  by  Mexico  with  the  salutation: 
*  *  Art  thou  also  to  become  weak  as  we  ?  art  thou  become  like  unto  us  ?  " 
This  is  recognition  ! 

Refuse  to  recognize  !  We  must  not  coerce  a  State  engaged  in  the 
peaceful  process  of  firing  into  a  United  States  vessel  to  prevent  the  rein- 
forcement of  a  United  States  fort.  We  must  not  coerce  States  which,  with- 
out any  declaration  of  war,  or  any  act  of  hostility  of  any  kind,  have  united, 
as  have  Mississippi,  Florida,  and  Louisiana,  their  joint  forces  to  seize  a 
public  fortress.  We  must  not  coerce  a  State  which  has  planted  cannon 
upon  its  shores  to  prevent  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  We  must 
not  coerce  a  State  which  has  robbed  the  United  States  Treasury. — ^This  is 
peaceful  secession  ! 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  do  not  design  to  quarrel  with  gentlemen  about  words. 
I  do  not  wish  to  say  one  word  which  will  exasperate  the  already  too  much 
inflamed  state  of  the  public  mind  ;  but  I  say  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  the  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  must  be  enforced ; 
and  they  who  stand  across  the  path  of  that  enforcement  must  either 
destroy  the  power  of  the  United  States  or  it  will  destroy  them. 


WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS  (J8J8-J90J) 

MANHATTAN'S  MOST  FAMOUS  ADVOCATE. 


mN  the  judicial  history  of  the  United  States,  the  most  imposing 
spectacle  was  that  which  took  place  in  1868,  when  President 
Johnson  was  put  on  trial,  impeached  for  "  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors,''  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  sitting  as  the 
Court,  and  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  presiding.  Prom- 
inent among  those  who  took  part  and  chief  counsel  for  the  President, 
was  William  Maxwell  Evarts,  the  most  brilliant  legal  light  of  the 
New  York  bar,  and  a  man  of  national  reputation  in  the  field  of  forensic 
eloquence.  We  need  scarcely  repeat  the  well-known  fact  that  the 
President  was  acquitted,  and  that  his  advocate  aided  in  the  result 
through  his  legal  acumen  and  deep  knowledge  of  Constitutional  law. 
The  services  of  Evarts  were  rewarded  by  his  appointment  as  Attorney- 
General  of  the  United  States,  which  he  filled  during  the  brief 
remainder  of  President  Johnson's  term.  He  subsequently  severed  as 
Secretary  of  State  under  President  Hayes. 

A  WEAK  SPOT  IN  THE  AMERICAN  SYSTEM 
[As  a  legal  orator  Mr.  Evarts  had  great  ability.     An  excellent  example  of  his 
powers  in  this  respect  was  his  able  argument  for  the  defendant  in  the  great  impeach- 
ment trial.     As  evidence,  we  give  an  extract  from  this  very  fine  forensic  effort.] 

There  are  in  the  Constitution  but  three  barriers  against  the  will  of  a 
majority  of  Congress  within  the  terms  of  their  authority.  One  is,  that  it 
requires  a  two-thirds  vote  to  expel  a  member  of  either  House ;  another, 
that  a  two-thirds  vote  is  necessary  to  pass  a  law  over  the  objections  of  the 
President ;  and  another,  that  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  Senate,  sitting  as  a 
court  for  the  trial  of  impeachment,  is  requisite  to  a  sentence.  And  now  how 
have  these  two  last  protections  of  the  Executive  office  disappeared  from 
the  Constitution  in  its  practical  working  by  the  condition  of  parties  that  has 
154 


WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS  165 

given  to  one  the  firm  possession — by  a  three-fourths  vote,  I  think,  in  both 
Houses — of  the  control  of  the  action  of  each  body  of  the  Legislature  ? 
Reflect  upon  this.  I  do  not  touch  upon  the  particular  circumstance  that 
the  non-restoration  of  the  Southern  States  has  left  your  numbers  in  both 
Houses  of  Congress  less  than  they  might  under  other  circumstances  be. 
I  do  not  calculate  whether  that  absence  diminishes  or  increases  the  dispro- 
portion that  there  would  be.  Possibly  their  presence. might  even  aggra- 
vate the  political  majority  which  is  thus  arrayed  and  thus  overrides 
practically  all  the  calculations  of  the  presidential  protection  through  the 
guarantees  of  the  Constitution.  For  what  do  the  two-thirds  provisions 
mean  ?  They  mean  that  in  a  free  country,  where  elections  were  diffused 
over  a  vast  area,  no  Congressman  having  a  constituency  of  over  seventy 
or  eighty  thousand  people,  it  was  impossible  to  suppose  that  there  would 
not  be  a  somewhat  equal  division  of  parties,  or  impossible  to  suppose  that 
the  excitements  and  zeal  of  party  could  carry  all  the  members  of  it  into 
any  extravagance.  I  do  not  call  them  extravagances  in  any  sense  of 
reproach  ;  I  merely  speak  of  them  as  the  extreme  measures  that  parties 
in  politics,  and  under  whatever  motives,  may  be  disposed  to  adopt. 

Certainly,  then,  there  is  ground  to  pause  and  consider,  before  you 
bring  to  a  determination  this  great  struggle  between  the  co-ordinate 
branches  of  the  Government,  this  agitation  and  this  conclusion,  in  a 
certain  event,  of  the  question  whether  the  co-ordination  of  the  Constitu- 
tion can  be  preserved.  Attend  to  these  special  circumstances,  und  deter- 
mine for  yourselves  whether  under  these  influences  it  is  best  to  urge  a 
contest  which  must  operate  upon  the  framework  of  the  Constitution  and 
its  future,  unattended  by  any  exceptions  of  a  peculiar  nature  that  govern 
the  actual  situation.  Ah,  that  is  the  misery  of  human  affairs,  that  the 
stress  comes  and  has  its  consequence  when  the  system  is  least  prepared  to 
receive  it.  It  is  the  misery  that  disease — casual,  circumstantial — invades 
the  frame  when  health  is  depressed  and  the  powers  of  the  constitution 
to  resist  it  are  at  the  lowest  ebb.  It  is  that  the  gale  rises  and  sweeps  the 
ship  to  destruction  when  there  is  no  sea-room  for  it  and  when  it  is  upon  a 
lee  shore.  And  if,  concurrent  with  that  danger  to  the  good  ship,  her 
crew  be  short,  if  her  helm  be  unsettled,  if  disorder  begin  to  prevail,  and 
there  come  to  be  a  final  struggle  for  the  maintenance  of  mastery  against 
the  elements  and  over  the  only  chances  of  safety,  how  wretched  is  the 
condition  of  that  people  whose  fortunes  are  embarked  in  that  ship  of 
state !  .    .    .    . 

The  strength  of  every  system  is  in  its  weakest  part.  Alas,  for  that 
rule!  But  when  the  weakest  part  breaks,  the  whole  is  broken.  The 
chain  lets  slip  the  ship  when  the  weak  link  breaks,  and  the  ship  founders. 


156  WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS 

The  body  fails  when  the  weak  function  is  vitally  attacked.  And  so  with 
every  structure,  social  and  political,  the  weak  point  is  the  point  of  danger  ; 
and  the  weak  point  of  the  Constitution  is  now  before  you  in  the  main- 
tenance of  the  co-ordination  of  the  departments  of  the  Government,  and 
if  one  cannot  be  kept  from  devouring  another,  then  the  experiment  of  our 
ancestors  will  fail.  They  attempted  to  interpose  justice.  If  that  fails, 
what  can  endure  ? 

We  have  come  all  at  once  to  the  great  experiences  and  trials  of  a  full- 
grown  nation,  all  ofwhich  we  thought  we  should  escape.  We  never  dreamed 
that  an  instructed  and  equal  people,  with  freedom  in  every  form,  with  a 
Government  yielding  to  the  touch  of  popular  will  so  readily,  ever  would 
come  to  the  trials  of  force  against  it.  We  never  thought  that  the  remedy 
to  get  rid  of  a  despotic  ruler,  fixed  by  a  Constitution  against  the  will  of 
the  peo'ple,  would  ever  bring  assassination  into  our  political  experience. 
We  never  thought  that  political  differences  under  an  elective  presidency 
would  bring  in  array  the  departments  of  the  Government  against  one 
another  to  anticipate  by  ten  months  the  operation  of  the  regular  election. 
And  yet  we  take  them  all,  one  after  another,  and  we  take  them  because 
we  have  grown  to  the  full  vigor  of  manhood,  when  the  strong  passions 
and  interests  that  have  destroyed  other  nations,  composed  of  human  nature 
like  ourselves,  have  overthrown  them.  But  we  have  met  by  the  powers 
of  the  Constitution  these  great  dangers — prophesied  when  they  would 
arise  as  likely  to  be  our  doom — the  distractions  of  civil  strife,  the 
exhaustions  of  powerful  war,  the  interruption  of  the  regularity  of  power 
through  the  violence  of  assassination.  We  could  summon  from  the  people 
a  million  of  men  and  inexhaustible  treasure  to  help  the  Constitution  in  its 
time  of  need.  Can  we  summon  now  resources  enough  of  civil  prudence 
and  of  restraint  of  passion  to  carry  us  through  this  trial,  so  that,  whatever 
result  may  follow,  in  whatever  form,  the  people  may  feel  that  the  Consti- 
tution has  received  no  wound  ?  .  To  this  court,  the  last  and  best  resort  for 
this  determination,  it  is  to  be  left.  And  oh,  if  you  could  only  carry  your- 
selves back  to  the  spirit  and  the  purpose  and  the  wisdom  and  the  courage 
of  the  framers  of  the  Government,  how  safe  would  it  be  in  your  hands  ! 
How  safe  is  it  now  in  your  hands,  for  you  who  have  entered  into  their  labors 
will  see  to  it  that  the  structure  of  your  work  comports  in  durability  and 
excellency  with  theirs. 

Act,  then,  as  if,  under  this  serene  and  majestic  presence,  your  deliber- 
ations were  to  be  conducted  to  their  close,  and  the  Constitution  was  to 
come  out  from  the  watchful  solicitude  of  these  great  guardians  of  it  as  if 
from  their  own  judgment  in  this  High  Court  of  Impeachment. 


SCHUYLER  COLFAX  (J 8234 885) 

GRANT'S  HRST  VICE-PRESIDENT 


I  A  It  the  head  of  Washington's  life-guards  throughout  the  Revo- 
I /\  I  lutionary  War  was  General  William  Colfax,  the  grandfather  of 
the  statesman  with  whom  we  are  now  concerned,  and  who 
served  his  country  in  its  councils  during  its  second  great  war  as  his 
soldier  grandfather  had  done  in  arms  during  the  first.  Colfax's  early 
political  service  was  as  editor  of  an  able  organ  of  the  Whig  party,  the 
St.  Joseph  Valley  Register.  Born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  he  removed 
when  young  to  Indiana,  and  for  many  years  conducted  this  party 
journal  at  South  Bend.  He  was  otherwise  active  in  party  services, 
became  a  member  of  Congress  in  1854,  and  continued  to  serve  in  the 
House  until  he  gave  up  his  seat  to  assume  the  duties  of  the  Vice- 
President,  in  March,  1868.  Made  Speaker  of  the  House  in  1863,  he 
was  twice  re-elected,  his  majority  each  time  increasing.  After  four 
years'  service  as  Vice-President  under  President  Grant,  he  retired  from 
political  life.  Colfax  was  a  Republican  statesman  of  much  ability 
and  an  able  orator.  Of  an  eloquent  speech  made  by  him  soon  after 
entering  Congress,  on  the  Kansas  question,  five  hundred  thousand 
copies  are  said  to  have  been  printed  and  distributed. 

THE  CONFISCATION  OF  SLAVE  PROPERTY 
[The  Civil  War  had  not  proceeded  far  before  the  question  of  depriving  the  South- 
erners of  the  property  in  human  beings  which  they  had  made  a  cause  of  v/ar  became  a 
subject  of  debate.  The  time  was  not  ripe  yet  for  emancipation,  but  General  Butler 
settled  the  difficulty  in  his  military  district  by  putting  them  to  work  as  "  contrabaml 
of  war,"  and  on  April  23,  1862,  Colfax  made  a  vigorous  speech,  in  which  he  strongly 
advocated  their  oonfiscation  as  a  means  of  reducing  the  power  of  the  opponents  of 
the  Union.     W^e  append  a  selection  from  his  speech.] 

The  engineers  of  this  rebellion — the  Catilines  who  sat  here  in  the 
council  chambers  of  the  Republic,  and  who,  with  the  oath  on  their  lips 

167 


158  SCHUYLER  COLFAX 

and  in  their  hearts  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
plotted  treason  at  night,  as  has  been  shown  by  papers  recovered  in  Florida, 
particularly  the  letter  of  Mr.  Yulee,  describing  the  midnight  conclaves  of 
these  men  to  their  confederates  in  the  Southern  States — should  be  pun- 
ished by  the  severest  penalties  of  the  law,  for  they  have  added  to  their 
treason  perjury,  and  are  doubly  condemned  before  God  and  man.  Never, 
in  any  land,  have  there  been  men  more  guilty  and  more  deserving  of  the 
extremest  terrors  of  the  law.  The  murderer  takes  but  a  single  life,  and 
we  call  him  infamous.  But  these  men  wickedly  and  wilfully  plunged  a 
peaceful  country  into  the  horrors  of  a  civil  war,  and  inaugurated  a  regime 
of  assassination  and  outrage  against  the  Union  men  in  their  midst,  hang- 
ing, plundering  and  imprisoning  in  a  manner  that  throws  into  the  shade 

the  atrocities  of  the  French  Revolution The  blood  of  our  soldiers 

cries  out  from  the  ground  against  them.  Has  not  forbearance  ceased 
longer  to  be  a  virtue  ?  We  were  told  a  year  ago  that  leniency  would 
probably  induce  them  to  return  to  their  allegiance  and  to  cease  this  unna- 
tural war ;  and  what  has  been  the  result  ?  Let  the  bloody  battle-fields  of 
this  conflict  answer. 

When  I  return  home  I  shall  miss  many  a  familiar  face  that  has  looked 
in  past  years  with  the  beaming  eye  of  friendship  upon  me.  I  shall  see 
those  who  have  come  home  with  constitutions  broken  down  by  exposure 
and  wounds  and  disease  to  linger  and  to  die.  I  shall  see  women  whom  I 
have  met  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  leaning  on  beloved  husbands'  arms,  as 
they  went  to  the  peaceful  sanctuary,  clothed  now  in  widows'  weeds.  I 
shall  see  orphans  destitute,  with  no  one  to  train  their  infant  steps  into 
paths  of  usefulness.  I  shall  see  the  swelling  hillock  in  the  graveyard — 
where,  after  life's  fitful  fever,  we  shall  all  be  gathered — betokening  that 
there,  prematurely  cut  off  by  a  rifle  ball  aimed  at  the  life  of  the  Republic, 
a  patriot  soldier  sleeps.  I  shall  see  desolate  hearthstones  and  anguish  and 
woe  on  every  side.  Those  of  us  here  who  come  from  Indiana  and  Illi- 
nois know  too  painfully  the  sad  scenes  that  will  confront  us  amid  the  cir- 
cles of  our  constituents. 

Nor  need  we  ask  the  cause  of  all  this  suffering,  the  necessity  for  all 
these  sacrifices.  They  have  been  entailed  on  us  as  part  of  the  fearful  cost 
of  saving  our  country  from  destruction.  But  what  a  mountain  of  guilt 
must  rest  upon  those  who,  by  their  efforts  to  destroy  the  Government  and 
the  Union,  have  rendered  these  terrible  sacrifices  necessary. 

Standing  here  between  the  living  and  the  dead,  we  cannot  avoid  the 
grave  and  fearful  responsibility  devolving  on  us.  The  people  will  ask  us 
when  we  return  to  their  midst :  ' '  When  our  brave  soldiers  went  forth  to 
the  battlefield  to  suffer,  to  bleed,  and  to  die  for  their  country,  what  did  you 


SCHUYLER   COLFAX  159 

civilians  in  the  Halls  of  Congress  do  to  cripple  the  power  of  the  rebels 
whom  they  confronted  at  the  cannon's  mouth  ?  What  legislation  did  you 
enact  to  punish  those  who  are  responsible,  by  their  perjury  and  treason, 
for  this  suffering,  desolation  and  death  ?  Did  you  levy  heavy  taxes  upon 
us  and  our  property  to  pay  the  expenses  of  a  war  into  which  we  were 
unwillingly  forced,  and  allow  the  men  who  are  the  guilty  and  reckless 
authors  of  it  to  go  comparatively  free  ?  Did  you  leave  the  slaves  of  these 
rebels  to  plant,  and  sow  and  reap,  to  till  their  farms,  and  thus  support 
their  masters  and  the  armies  of  treason,  while  they,  thus  strengthened, 
met  us  in  the  field  ?  Did  you  require  the  patriots  of  the  loyal  States  to 
give  up  business,  property,  home,  health,  life  and  all  for  the  country,  and 
yet  hesitate  about  using  the  law-making  power  of  the  Republic  to  subject 
traitors  to  the  penalties  as  to  property  and  possesions  which  their  crimes 
deserve  ?  I  would  feel  as  if  worthy  of  the  severest  condemnation  for  life 
if  I  did  not  mete  out  to  those  who  are  the  cause  of  all  this  woe  and  anguish 
and  death,  by  the  side  of  which  all  the  vast  expenses  of  the  war  dwindle 
into  insignificance,  the  sternest  penalties  of  the  law,  while  they  still  remain 
in  arms  in  their  parricidal  endeavor  to  blot  this  country  from  the  map  of 
the  world. 

Why  do  we  hesitate  ?  These  men  have  drawn  the  sword  and  thrown 
away  the  scabbard.  They  do  not  hesitate  in  punishing  Union  men  within 
their  power.  They  confiscate  their  property,  and  have  for  a  year  past, 
without  any  of  the  compunctions  that  trouble  us  here.  They  imprison 
John  M.  Botts  for  silently  retaining  a  lingering  love  for  the  Union  in  his 
desolate  home.  They  hang  Union  men  in  east  Tennessee  for  bridge- 
burning,  refusing  them  even  the  sympathy  of  a  chaplain  to  console  their 
dying  hours.  They  persecute  Brownlow  because,  faithful  among  the 
faithless,  he  refused,  almost  alone,  in  his  outspoken  heroism,  to  bow  the 
knee  to  the  Baal  of  their  worship.  Let  us  follow  his  counsel  by  stripping 
the  leaders  of  this  conspiracy  of  their  possessions  and  outlawing  them 
hereafter  from  the  high  places  of  honor  and  of  trust  they  have  heretofore 
enjoyed. 


JAMES  A^  GARFIELD  ( J  83 14  88 1) 

THE  MARTYR  TO  CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM 


EOR  nearly  three  months  during  the  summer  and  early  fall  of 
1881  the  people  of  the  United  States  waited  in  an  agony  of 
sympathetic  grief  and  apprehension,  as  the  life  of  the  head  of 
the  nation  slowly  ebbed  away  in  pain.  Patiently  the  exalted  sufferer 
awaited  the  end,  and  with  the  deepest  sorrow  the  citizens  of  the  coun- 
try vibrated  between  hope  and  despair.  On  the  2d  of  July  he  had 
been  laid  low  by  the  bullet  of  an  insensate  assassin  in  Washington. 
On  the  19th  of  September  came  the  sad  day  that  ended  his  career, 
within  touch  of  the  fresh  sea  breezes  at  Elberon,  on  the  New  Jersey 
coast,  where  the  deep  bass  of  the  breaking  waves  sounded  the  requiem 
of  his  brave  soul. 

It  is  rare  that  a  great  stress  in  national  events  passes  away  with- 
out its  martyr ;  and  too  often  it  is  the  greatest  and  best  of  the  nation 
that  falls  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  Moloch  of  passion  and  revenge.  So  it 
was  in  1865,  when  Lincoln  fell  as  the  last  victim  to  the  terrible  mental 
strain  of  the  Civil  .War.  xA.nd  so  it  was  in  1881,  when  Garfield  fell  a 
similar  victim  to  the  passions  aroused  by  the  struggle  for  Civil  Ser- 
vice  Reform.  Taking  the  Presidential  chair  in  March  of  that  year, 
his  evident  purpose  of  making  this  reform  a  ruling  policy  of  his 
administration,  and  the  controversy  which,  in  consequence,  arose 
betw^een  him  and  the  Senators  from  New  York,  gave  rise  to  a  highly 
excited  feeling  among  the  partisans  of  the  old  system,  office-giving 
Congressmen  and  office-seeking  political  workers  alike.  The  fatal 
result  of  this  excitement  came  on  July  2d,  when  a  worthless  office- 
seeker,  half-crazed  by  disappointment,  shot  the  President  in  the  rail 
road  station  at  Washington,  inflicting  what  proved  to  be  a  fat 
wound.  Such  is  one  of  the  fatalities  of  revolutionary  movements" 
160 


1 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  161 

Garfield  began  life  as  a  poor  boy,  even  working  for  a  time  as  a 
driver  on  the  tow-path  of  a  caDal.  But  by  innate  energy  he  made  his 
way  through  college  and  to  the  position  of  a  college  professor  and 
State  Senator.  He  served  in  the  war,  becoming  a  major-general. 
The  remainder  of  his  life  was  passed  as  a  Congressman,  in  which  he 
won  great  influence  as  an  orator  and  statesman,  becoming  speaker  of 
the  House  in  1877,  Senator  in  1880,  and  President  in  the  same  year. 

THE  EVIL  SPIRIT  OF  DISLOYALTY 

[A  man  of  kindly  nature  and  destitute  of  malice,  Garfield  was  still  strongly 
emotional,  and  under  sufficient  provocation  could  be  aroused  to  severe  denunciation. 
Such  was  the  case  on  the  8th  of  March,  1864,  when  he  rose  to  reply  to  a  motion  of 
Alexander  Long,  a  Representative  from  his  own  State,  proposing  to  negotiate  for  peace 
with  the  Southern  Confederacy.     We  give  the  more  pithy  portions  of  this  speech.] 

Mr.  Chairman: 

I  should  be  obliged  to  you  if  you  would  direct  the  Sergeant-at-Arms 
to  bring  a  white  flag  and  plant  it  in  the  aisle  between  myself  and  my  col- 
league (Alexander  Long,  of  Ohio),  who  has  just  addressed  you. 

I  recollect  on  one  occasion,  when  two  great  armies  stood  face  to  face, 
that  under  a  white  flag  just  planted  I  approached  a  company  of  men 
dressed  in  the  uniform  of  the  rebel  Confederacy,  and  reached  out  my  hand 
to  one  of  the  number  and  told  him  I  respected  him  as  a  brave  man. 
Though  he  wore  the  emblems  of  disloyalty  and  treason,  still  underneath 
his  vestments  I  beheld  a  brave  and  honest  soul .  I  would  reproduce  that 
scene  here  this  afternoon.  I  say,  were  there  such  a  flag  of  truce — but 
God  forgive  me  if  I  should  do  it  under  any  other  circumstances.  .... 

Now,  when  hundreds  of  thousands  of  brave  souls  have  gone  up  to 
God  under  the  shadow  of  the  flag,  and  when  thousands  more,  maimed 
and  shattered  in  the  contest,  are  sadly  awaiting  the  deliverance  of  death  ; 
now,  when  three  years  of  terrific  warfare  have  raged  over  us,  when  our 
armies  have  pushed  the  rebellion  back  over  mountains  and  rivers,  and 
crowded  it  back  into  narrow  limits,  until  a  wall  of  fire  girds  it ;  now, 
when  the  uplifted  hand  of  a  majestic  people  is  about  to  let  fall  the  light- 
ning of  its  conquering  power  upon  the  rebellion  ;  now,  in  the  quiet  of  this 
hall,  hatched  in  the  lowest  depths  of  a  similar  dark  treason,  there  rises  a 
Benedict  Arnold  and  proposes  to  surrender  us  all  up,  body  and  spirit,  the 
nation  and  the  flag,  its  genius  and  its  honor,  now  and  forever,  to  the 
accursed  traitors  to  our  country.  And  that  proposition  comes — God  for- 
give and  pity  my  beloved  State  ! — it  comes  from  a  citizen  of  the  honored 

and  loyal  Commonwealth  of  Ohio 

11 


162  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD 

But,  sir,  I  will  forget  States.  We  have  something  greater  than 
States  and  State  pride  to  talk  of  here  to-day.  All  personal  and  State 
feeling  aside,  I  ask  you  what  is  the  proposition  which  the  enemy  of  his 
country  has  just  made  ?  What  is  it  ?  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
this  contest,  it  is  proposed  in  this  hall  to  give  up  the  struggle,  to  abandon 
the  war,  and  let  treason  run  riot  through  the  land  !  I  will,  if  I  can, .dis- 
miss feeling  from  my  heart,  and  try  to  consider  only  what  bears  upon  that 
logic  of  the  speech  to  which  we  have  just  listened. 

First  of  all,  the  gentleman  tells  us  that  the  right  of  secession  is  a  con- 
stitutional right.  I  do  not  propose  to  enter  into  the  argument.  I  have 
expressed  myself  hitherto  on  State  sovereignty  and  State  rights,  of  which 
this  proposition  of  his  is  the  legitimate  child. 

But  the  gentleman  takes  higher  ground, — and  in  that  I  agree  with 
him, — namely,  that  five  million  or  eight  million  people  possess  the  right 
of  revolution.  Grant  it ;  we  agree  there.  If  fifty-nine  men  can  make  a 
revolution  successful,  they  have  the  right  of  revolution.  If  one  State 
wishes  to  break  its  connection  with  the  Federal  Government,  and  does  it 
by  force,  maintaining  itself,  it  is  an  independent  State.  If  the  eleven 
Southern  States  are  determined  and  resolved  to  leave  the  Union,  to  secede, 
to  revolutionize,  and  can  maintain  that  revolution  by  force,  they  have  the 
revolutionary  right  to  do  so.  Grant  it.  I  stand  on  that  platform  with 
the  gentleman. 

And  now  the  question  comes :  Is  it  our  constitutional  duty  to  let 
them  do  it  ?  That  is  the  question,  and  in  order  to  reach  it  I  beg  to  call 
your  attention,  not  to  an  argument,  but  to  the  condition  of  ajffairs  that 
would  result  from  such  action — the  mere  statement  of  which  becomes  the 
strongest  possible  argument.  What  does  this  gentleman  propose  ?  Where 
will  he  draw  the  line  of  division  ?  If  the  rebels  carry  into  successful 
secession  what  they  desire  to  carry  ;  if  their  revolution  envelop  as  many 
States  as  they  intend  it  shall  envelop  ;  if  they  draw  the  line  where  Isham 
G.  Harris,  the  rebel  governor  of  Tennessee,  in  the  rebel  camp  near  our 
lines,  told  Mr.  Vallandigham  they  would  draw  it, — along  the  line  of  the 
Ohio  and  of  the  Potomac  ;  if  they  make  good  their  statement  to  him  that 
they  will  never  consent  to  any  other  line,  then  I  ask  what  is  this  thing 
that  the  gentleman  proposes  to  do  ? 

He  proposes  to  leave  to  the  United  States  a  territory  reaching  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  one  hundred  miles  wide  in  the  centre! 
From  Wellsville,  on  the  Ohio  River,  to  Cleveland,  on  the  Lakes,  is  one 
hundred  miles.  I  ask  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  if  there  be  a  man  here  so 
insane  as  to  propose  that  the  American  people  will  allow  their  magnificent 
national  proportions  to  be  shorn  to  so  deformed  a  shape  as  this  ? 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  163 

I  tell  you,  and  I  confess  it  here,  that  while  I  hope  to  have  something 
of  human  courage,  I  have  not  enough  to  contemplate  such  a  result.  I 
am  not  brave  enough  to  go  to  the  brink  of  the  precipice  of  successful 
secession  and  look  down  into  its  damned  abyss.  If  my  vision  were  keen 
enough  to  pierce  it  to  the  bottom,  I  would  not  dare  to  look.  If  there  be 
a  man  here  who  dares  contemplate  such  a  scene,  I  look  upon  him  either 
as  the  bravest  of  the  sons  of  woman,  or  as  a  downright  madman.  Seces- 
sion to  gain  peace  !  Secession  is  the  tocsin  of  eternal  war.  There  can  be 
no  end  to  such  a  war  as  will  be  inaugurated  if  this  thing  be  done. 

Suppose  the  policy  of  the  gentleman  were  adopted  to-day.  Let  the 
order  go  forth  ;  sound  the  "  recall  "  on  your  bugles,  and  let  it  ring  from 
Texas  to  the  far  Atlantic,  and  tell  the  armies  to  come  back.  Call  the 
victorious  legions  to  come  back  over  the  battlefields  of  blood,  forever  now 
disgraced.  Call  them  back  over  the  territory  which  they  have  conquered. 
Call  them  back,  and  let  the  minions  of  secession  chase  them  with  derision 
and  jeers  as  they  come.  And  then  tell  them  that  that  man  across  the 
aisle,  from  the  free  State  of  Ohio,  gave  birth  to  the  monstrous  propo- 
sition ! 

Mr.  Chairman,  if  such  a  word  should  be  sent  forth  through  the 
armies  of  the  Union,  the  wave  of  terrible  vengeance  that  would  sweep 
back  over  this  land  would  never  find  a  parallel  in  the  records  of  history. 
Almost  in  the  moment  of  final  victory  the  ' '  recall ' '  is  sounded  by  a 
craven  person  not  deserving  freedom  !  We  ought  every  man  to  be  made 
a  slave,  should  we  sanction  such  a  sentiment. 

I  said  a  little  while  ago  that  I  accepted  the  proposition  of  the  gentle- 
man that  the  rebels  had  the  right  of  revolution  ;  and  the  decisive  issue 
between  us  and  the  rebellion  is,  whether  they  shall  revolutionize  and 
destroy,  or  we  shall  subdue  and  preserve.  We  take  the  latter  ground- 
We  take  the  common  weapons  of  war  to  meet  them  ;  and,  if  these  be  not 
sufiicient,  I  would  take  any  element  which  will  overwhelm  and  destroy ; 
I  would  sacrifice  the  dearest  and  best  beloved  ;  I  would  take  all  the  old 
sanctions  of  law  and  the  Constitution,  and  fling  them  to  the  winds,  i^ 
neccessary,  rather  than  let  the  nations  be  broken  in  pieces,  and  its  peopl'^ 
destroyed  with  endless  ruin. 


JAMES  G.  BLAINE  (18304893) 

THE  "PLUMED  KNIGHT"  OF  POLITICS 


i 


|OBERT  G.  INGERSOLL'S  ringing  words,  spoken  before  the 
Republican  National  Convention  of  1876,  wlien  he  rose  to 
present  the  name  of  James  G.  Blaine  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency,  have  never  been  surpassed  for  effectiveness  on  such  an 
occasion,  Blaine  had  been  bitterly  assailed  by  his  political  foes,  and 
had  routed  them  in  a  speech  of  striking  vigor.  It  was  to  this  defense 
that  IngersoU  alluded  when  he  electrified  the  convention  with  the  fol- 
lowing words  :  '*  Like  an  armed  warrior,  like  a  Plumed  Knight,  James 
G.  Blaine  marched  down  the  halls  of  the  American  Congress  and 
threw  his  shining  lance  full  and  fair  against  the  brazen  foreheads 
of  the  defamers  of  his  country  and  the  maligners  of  his  honor.  For 
the  Republican  party  to  desert  this  gallant  leader  now  is  as  though  an 
army  should  desert  their  general  uponihe  field  of  battle.'^ 

Yet  Blaine  failed  to  receive  the  nomination.  A.  sunstroke  which 
prostrated  him,  and  of  which  his  enemies  took  advantage  to  spread 
their  falsehoods,  turned  the  current  of  votes  away  from  him.  Again 
in  1880,  he  was  defeated  as  a  candidate.  He  was  triumphantly  nomi- 
nated in  1884,  but  every  one  knows  of  the  ludicrous  incident  which 
then  made  Cleveland  President,  and  robbed  Blaine  of  his  well-fought- 
for  honors.  The  result  of  the  election  turned  upon  the  vote  of  the 
State  of  Kew  York,  and  there  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burchard's  fatal  allitera- 
tion of  ''  Rum,  Romanism  and  Rebellion  "  turned  enough  of  the  Irish 
Catholic  vote  from  Blaine  to  give  Cleveland  the  1000  majority  that  car- 
ried him  into  the  Presidential  chair.  Rarely  has  so  insignificant  a| 
incident  had  so  momentous  a  result. 

As  an  orator  Blaine  had  finely  marked  ability,  and  as  a  statesmai 
his  influence  was  unsurpassed  during  his  career.     Depew  says  of  him, 
164 


JAMES  G.  BLAINE  165 

"  He  will  stand  in  our  history  as  the  ablest  parliamentarian  and^most 
skillful  debater  of  our  congressional  history.  ...  No  man  during  his 
active  career  has  disputed  with  him  his  hold  upon  the  popular  imagi- 
nation and  his  leadership  of  his  party." 

A  EULOGY  OF  GARHELD 

In  February,  1882,  Blaine  delivered,  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
a  pathetic  eulogy  on  the  martyred  Garfield.  Never  was  there  a  more  distinguished 
audience.  It  included  the  President  and  his  Cabinet,  both  Houses  of  Congress,  the 
Supreme  Court,  the  foreign  Ministers,  and  great  numbers  of  distinguished  men  and 
women.  The  touching  words  in  which  he  bore  tribute  to  his  dead  friend  held  spell- 
bound the  crowded  audience,  and  as  he  spoke  that  sublimely  beautiful  passage  with 
which  the  oration  closed,  the  solemn  hush  which  fell  upon  the  great  assembly  deep- 
ened the  impression  felt  by  every  one  present,  that  he  had  listened  to  one  of  the 
noblest  of  oratorical  efforts.] 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  July  2d,  the  President  was  a  contented 
and  happy  man — not  in  an  ordinary  degree,  but  joyfully,  almost  boyishly, 
happy.  On  his  way  to  the  railroad  station,  to  which  we  drove  slowly,  in 
conscious  enjoyment  of  the  beautiful  morning,  with  an  unwonted  sense 
of  leisure  and  a  keen  anticipation  of  pleasure,  his  talk  was  all  in  the 
grateful  and  gratulatory  vein.  He  felt  that,  after  four  months  of  trial, 
his  administration  was  strong  in  its  grasp  of  affairs,  strong  in  popular 
favor,  and  destined  to  grow  stronger ;  that  grave  difficulties  confronting 
him  at  his  inauguration  had  safely  passed  ;  that  troubles  lay  behind  him, 
and  not  before  him  ;  that  he  was  soon  to  meet  the  wife  whom  he  loved, 
now  recovering  from  an  illness  which  had  but  lately  disquieted  and  at 
times  almost  unnerved  him  ;  that  he  was  going  to  his  alma  mater  to  renew 
the  most  cherished  associations  of  his  young  manhood ,  and  to  exchange 
greetings  with  those  whose  deepening  interest  had  followed  every  step  of 
his  onward  progress,  from  the  day  that  he  entered  upon  his  college  course 
until  he  had  obtained  the  loftiest  elevation  in  the  gift  of  his  country- 
men. 

Surely,  if  happiness  can  ever  come  from  the  honors  or  triumphs  of 
this  world,  on  that  quiet  July  morning  James  A.  Garfield  may  well  have 
been  a  happy  man.  No  foreboding  of  evil  haunted  him  ;  no  slightest 
premonition  of  danger  clouded  his  sky.  His  terrible  fate  was  upon  him 
in  an  instant.  One  moment  he  stood  erect,  strong,  confident  in  the  years 
stretching  peacefully  out  before  him.  The  next  he  lay  wounded,  bleed- 
ing, helpless,  doomed  to  weary  weeks  of  torture,  to  silence  and  the  grave. 

Great  in  life,  he  was  surpassingly  great  in  death.  For  no  cause,  in 
the  very  frenzy  of  wantonness  and  wickedness,  by  the  red  hand  of  mur- 
der, he  was  thrust  from  the  full  tide  of  this  world's  interest,  from  its 


166  JAMES  G.  BLAINE 

hopes,  its  aspirations,  its  victories,  into  the  visible  presence  of  death — and 
he  did  not  quail.  Not  alone  for  one  short  moment,  in  which  stunned  and 
dazed,  he  could  give  up  life,  hardly  aware  of  its  relinquishment,  but 
through  days  of  deadly  languor,  through  weeks  of  agony,  that  was  not 
less  agony  because  silently  borne,  with  clear  sight  and  calm  courage  he 
looked  into  his  open  grave.  What  blight  and  ruin  met  his  anguished 
eyes,  whose  lips  may  tell ;  what  brilliant,  broken  plans,  what  baffled,  high 
ambitions,  what  sundering  of  strong,  warm,  manhood's  friendship,  what 
bitter  rending  of  sweet  household  ties  !  Behind  him  a  proud,  expectant 
nation,  a  great  host  of  sustaining  friends,  a  cherished  and  happy  mother, 
wearing  the  full,  rich  honors  of  her  early  toil  and  tears  ;  the  wife  of  his 
youth,  whose  whole  life  lay  in  his  ;  the  little  boys  not  yet  emerged  from 
childhood's  day  of  frolic  ;  the  fair,  young  daughter  ;  the  sturdy  young 
sons  just  springing  into  closest  companionship,  claiming  every  day  and 
everyday  rewarding  a  father's  love  and  care  ;  and  in  his  heart,  the  eager, 
rejoicing  power  to  meet  demands.  And  his  soul  was  not  shaken.  His 
countrymen  were  thrilled  with  instant,  profound,  and  universal  sympathy. 
Masterful  in  his  mortal  weakness,  he  became  the  center  of  a  nation's  love, 
enshrined  in  the  prayers  of  a  world .  But  all  the  love  and  all  the  sympa- 
thy could  not  share  with  him  his  suffering.  He  trod  the  wine  press  alone. 
With  unfaltering  front  he  faced  death.  With  unfailing  tenderness  he 
took  his  leave  of  life.  Above  the  demoniac  hiss  of  the  assassin's  bullet  he 
heard  the  voice  of  God.  With  simple  resignation  he  bowed  to  the  divine 
decree. 

As  the  end  drew  near  his  early  craving  for  the  sea  returned.  The 
stately  mansion  of  power  had  been  to  him  the  wearisome  hospital  of  pain, 
and  he  begged  to  be  taken  from  his  prison  walls,  from  its  oppressive,  stifl- 
ing air,  from  its  homelessness  and  its  hopelessness.  Gently,  silently,  the 
love  of  a  great  people  bore  the  pale  sufferer  to  the  longed-for  healing  of 
the  sea,  to  live  or  to  die,  as  God  should  will,  within  sight  of  the  heaving 
billows,  within  sound  of  its  manifold  voices.  With  a  wan,  fevered  face, 
tenderly  lifted  to  the  cooling  breeze,  he  looked  out  wistfully  upon  the 
ocean's  changing  wonders  ;  on  its  far  sails  ;  on  its  restless  waves,  rolling 
shoreward  to  break  and  die  beneath  the  noonday  sun  ;  on  the  red  clouds 
of  evening,  arching  low  to  the  horizon  ;  on  the  serene  and  shining 
pathway  of  the  stars.  Let  us  think  that  his  dying  eyes  read  a  mystic 
meaning  which  only  the  rapt  and  parting  soul  may  know.  Let  us  believe 
that  in  the  silence  of  the  receding  world  he  heard  the  great  waves  break- 
ing on  a  farther  shore,  and  felt  already  upon  his  wasted  brow  the  breath 
of  the  eternal  morning. 


^- 


Recent  Political  Orators 


WITH  the  passing  of  the  Civil  War  and  the 
period  of  reconstruction  of  the  Union  that 
followed,  there  vanished  a  prolific  source  of 
fervent  oratory  in  the  United  States.  Since  then, 
indeed,  the  country  has  not  been  without  its  events 
calling  for  argument  and  breeding  controversy,  but 
these  have  been  of  minor  importance  as  compared 
with  the  all-controlling*  excitement  of  the  slavery 
conflict  and  the  reconstruction  debate.  There  have 
been  active  party  controversies,  on  such  perennial 
subjects  of  public  interest  as  the  tariff,  the  greenback 
currency,  free  silver,  the  Philippine  question,  and 
other  topics  on  which  opinion  differed ;  but  none  of 
these  have  a  threat  of  war  or  revolution  behind  them, 
and  the  stir  of  thought  or  vigor  of  expression  to 
which  they  gave  rise,  was  slight  compared  with  that 
in  which  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  was  involved. 
There  have  been  no  lack  of  orators  in  the  recent 
period,  many  of  them  eloquent,  some  of  them  full  of 
force  and  fervor.  But  it  is  not  easy  to  make  a  hot 
fire  without  coals,  and  a  vehement  burst  of  oratory 
on  an  inconsequential  subject  is  apt  to  yield  more 
smoke  than  flame.  The  speeches  upon  which  we 
shall  draw,  therefore,  in  the  present  section,  are 
largely  of  the  academic  character ;  many  of  them 
fine  efforts,  displaying  cultured  thought  and  eloquent 
powers  of  expression,  yet  none  of  them  based  on 
such  national  exigencies  as  gave  inspiration  to  the 
words  of  a  Henry  or  a  Webster. 


JOHN  W.  DANIEL  (1842 ) 

A  VIRGINIA  ORATOR  AND  STATESMAN 


EORTY  years  ago  a  private  in  Stonewall  Jackson's  brigade,  and 
to-day  an  United  States  Senator,  with  the  reputation  of  being 
one  of  the  most  eloquent  men  in  the  Upper  House  of  Con- 
gress, we  herewith  present  John  Warwick  Daniel  to  our  readers. 
Born  at  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  in  1842,  and  a  boy  at  school  when  the 
Civil  War  began,  he  lost  no  time  in  closing  his  books  and  taking  his 
musket,  finding  ready  entrance  into  Jackson's  famous  brigade.  Be- 
ginning as  a  private,  he  left  the  army  as  a  major,  with  several  wounds 
to  his  credit,  and  again  resorted  to  his  books  at  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, making  the  law  his  study.  His  powers  as  an  orator  and  activity 
as  a  politician  soon  led  him  to  the  Virginia  legislature,  in  w^hich  he 
sat  from  1869  to  1881.  He  here  won  a  high  reputation  as  an  orator 
and  statesman,  and  was  made  the  Democratic  nominee  for  Governor. 
Beaten  in  this  contest,  he  was  sent  to  Congress  in  1884,  and  in  1885 
succeeded  General  Mahone  in  the  United  States  Senate.  In  this  body 
he  is  one  of  the  leaders  among  the  Democratic  members. 

DEDICATION  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  MONUMENT 

[lyoftiest  among  the  architectural  erections  in  the  world  stands  the  great  monu- 
ment to  the  **  Father  of  his  Country,"  on  an  elevated  situation  in  the  National  Capi- 
tal. Of  obelisk  shape,  and  towering  555  feet  in  the  air,  it  dominates  the  landscape 
for  miles  around.  Projected  early  in  the  century,  its  completion  and  dedication  came 
in  1885.  We  quote  here  from  the  eloquent  oration  made  by  Mr.  Daniel  in  the  hall  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  February  21,  1885,  in  honor  of  the  important  event, 
his  glowing  panegyric  of  Washington's  work  and  character.] 

No  sum  could  now  be  made  of  Washington's  character  that  did  not 
exhaust  language  of  its  tributes  and  repeat  virtue  by  all  her  names.     No 
sum  could  be  made  of  his  achievements  that  did  not  unfold  the  history  of 
168 


JOHN   W-  DANIEL  169 

his  country  and  its  institutions,  the  history  of  his  age  and  its  progress  .-the 
history  of  man  and  his  destiny  to  be  free.  But,  whether  character  or 
achievement  be  regarded,  the  riches  before  us  only  expose  the  poverty  of 
praise.  So  clear  was  he  in  his  great  office  that  no  ideal  of  the  leader  or 
ruler  can  be  formed  that  does  not  shrink  by  the  side  of  the  reality.  And 
so  has  he  impressed  himself  upon  the  minds  of  men,  that  no  man  can 
j  ustly  aspire  to  be  the  chief  of  a  great  free  people  who  does  not  adopt  his 
principles  and  emulate  his  example.  We  look  with  amazement  on  such 
eccentric  characters  as  Alexander,  Caesar,  Cromwell,  Frederick,  and 
Napoleon,  but  when  Washington's  face  rises  before  us,  instinctively  man- 
kind exclaims  :  **  This  is  the  man  for  nations  to  trust  and  reverence,  and 
for  rulers  to  follow.' ' 

Drawing  his  sword  from  patriotic  impulse,  without  ambition  and  with- 
out malice,  he  wielded  it  without  vindictiveness  and  sheathed  it  without 
reproach.  All  that  humanity  could  conceive  he  did  to  suppress  the  cruel- 
ties of  war  and  soothe  its  sorrows.  He  never  struck  a  coward's  blow. 
To  him  age,  infancy,  and  helplessness  were  ever  sacred.  He  tolerated  no 
extremity  unless  to  curb  the  excesses  of  his  enemy,  and  he  never  poisoned 
the  sting  of  defeat  by  the  exultation  of  the  conqueror. 

Peace  he  welcomed  as  a  heaven-sent  herald  of  friendship  ;  and  no 
country  has  given  him  greater  honor  than  that  which  he  defeated  ;  for 
England  has  been  glad  to  claim  him  as  the  scion  of  her  blood,  and  proud, 
like  our  sister  American  States,  to  divide  with  Virginia  the  honor  of  pro- 
ducing him.  Fascinated  by  the  perfection  of  the  man,  we  are  loath  to 
break  the  mirror  of  admiration  into  the  fragments  of  analysis.  But  lo  ! 
as  we  attempt  it,  every  fragment  becomes  the  miniature  of  such  sublimity 
and  beauty  that  the  destructive  hand  can  only  multiply  the  forms  of 
immortality. 

Grand  and  manifold  as  were  its  phases,  there  is  yet  no  difficulty  in 
understanding  the  character  of  Washington.  He  was  no  Veiled  Prophet. 
He  never  acted  a  part.  Simple,  natural,  and  unaffected,  his  life  lies  before 
us,  a  fair  and  open  manuscript.  He  disdained  the  arts  which  wrap  power 
in  mystery  in  order  to  magnify  it.  He  practiced  the  profound  diplomacy 
of  truthful  speech,  the  consummate  tact  of  direct  attention.  Looking 
ever  to  the  All- Wise  Disposer  of  events,  he  relied  on  that  Providence 
which  helps  men  by  giving  them  high  hearts  and  hopes  to  help  themselves 
with  the  means  which  their  Creator  has  put  at  their  service.  There  was 
no  infirmity  in  his  conduct  over  which  charity  must  fling  its  veil ;  no  taint 
of  selfishness  from  which  purity  averts  her  gaze  ;  no  dark  recess  of  intrigue 
that  must  be  lit  up  with  colored  panegyric  ;  no  subterranean  passage  to 
be  trod  in  trembling  lest  there  be  stirred  the  ghost  of  a  buried  crime. 


170  JOHN   W.  DANIEL 

A  true  son  of  nature  was  George  Washington — of  nature  in  her 
brightest  intelligence  and  noblest  mold  ;  and  the  difl5culty,  if  such  there 
be,  in  comprehending  him,  is  only  that  of  reviewing  from  a  single  stand- 
point the  vast  procession  of  those  civil  and  military  achievements  which 
filled  nearly  half  a  century  of  his  life,  and  in  realizing  the  magnitude  of 
those  qualities  which  were  requisite  to  their  performance ;  the  difiiculty 
of  fashioning  in  our  minds  a  pedestal  broad  enough  to  bear  the  towering 
figure,  whose  greatness  is  diminished  by  nothing  but  the  perfection  of  its 
proportions.  If  his  exterior — in  calm,  grave  and  resolute  repose — ever 
impressed  the  casual  observer  as  austere  and  cold,  it  was  only  because  he 
did  not  reflect  that  no  great  heart  like  his  could  have  lived  unbroken  unless 
bound  by  iron  nerves  in  an  iron  frame.  The  Commander  of  Armies,  the 
Chief  of  a  People,  the  Hope  of  Nations  could  not  wear  his  heart  upon 
his  sleeve  ;  and  yet  his  sternest  will  could  not  conceal  its  high  and  warm 
pulsations.  Under  the  enemy's  guns  at  Boston  he  did  not  forget  to  instruct 
his  agent  to  administer  generously  of  charity  to  his  needy  neighbors  at 
home.  The  sufferings  of  women  and  children,  thrown  adrift  by  war,  and 
of  his  bleeding  comrades,  pierced  his  soul.  And  the  moist  eye  and  trem- 
bling voice  with  which  he  bade  farewell  to  his  veterans  bespoke  the  under- 
lying tenderness  of  his  nature,  even  as  the  storm- wind  makes  music  in  its 
undertones 

When  Marathon  had  been  fought  and  Greece  kept  free,  each  of  the 
victorious  generals  voted  himself  to  be  first  in  honor,  but  all  agreed  that 
Miltiades  was  second.  When  the  most  memorable  struggle  for  the  rights 
of  human  nature  of  which  time  holds  record  was  thus  happily  concluded 
in  the  monument  of  their  preservation,  whoever  else  was  second  unani- 
mous acclaim  declared  that  Washington  was  first.  Nor  in  that  struggle 
alone  does  he  stand  foremost.  In  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  their  President,  their  Senators,  their  Representatives,  and  their 
Judges  do  crown  to-day  with  the  grandest  crown  that  veneration  has  ever 
lifted  to  the  brow  of  glory,  him  whom  Virginia  gave  to  America,  whom 
America  has  given  to  the  world  and  to  the  ages,  and  whom  mankind  with 
universal  suffrage  has  proclaimed  the  foremost  of  the  founders  of  the 
empire  in  the  first  degree  of  greatness  ;  whom  liberty  herself  has  anointed 
as  the  first  citizen  in  the  great  Republic  of  Humanity. 


BENJAMIN  HARVEY  HILL   (18234882) 

A  BRILLIANT  LAWYER  AND  ORATOR 


TITJHEN',  in  1861,  the  advocates  of  secession  grew  active  in  their 
If  I     efforts  to  drag  Georgia  out  of  the  Union  of  the  States,  chief 

'  '  among  those  who  stood  firm  for  the  old  flag,  and  fought  seces- 
sion boldly  in  the  convention,  as  at  once  a  wrong  and  a  blunder,  was 
Benjamin  Harvey  Hill,  one  of  the  mosjb  brilliant  legal  advocates  in  the 
State.  In  this  he  was  sustained  by  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  the  sub- 
sequent vice-president  of  the  Confederacy.  Hill  followed  Stephens  in 
support  of  the  measure  after  it  had  been  carried,  and  spent  the  four 
years  of  the  war  at  Richmond,  as  a  member  of  the  Confederate 
Senate.  The  war  ended,  he  was  among  those  fully  ready  to  accept 
the  new  conditions,  and  in  1873  entered  the  United  States  Senate  as  a 
member  from  the  reconstructed  State  of  Georgia.  He  remained  there 
until  his  death,  well  sustaining  his  reputation  for  eloquence  and 
statesmanlike  ability. 

A  PLEA  FOR  UNION 
[As  Hill  had  opposed  secession  and  the  disruption  of  the  Union  for  the  preserv- 
ation of  African  slavery  in  the  Georgia  Convention,  he  expressed  himself  to  the  same 
eifect  in  a  noble  speech  made  before  the  United  States  Senate  on  May  lo,  1879.  A 
more  eloquent  appeal  for  the  stability  of  the  American  Union  has  never  been  made. 
Before  this  great  good,  in  his  opinion,  the  system  of  African  slavery  was  not  worthy 
of  a  moment's  consideration.     We  select  the  most  eloquent  portion  of  this  address.] 

The  Southern  people  did  not  secede  from  hostility  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, nor  from  any  desire  to  be  rid  of  the  system  of  government  under 
which  they  had  lived. 

The  highest  evidence  is  what  is  given  you  in  the  very  act  of  seces- 
sion, when  they  pledged  themselves  to  form  a  new  union  upon  the  model 
of  the  old .  The  very  night  when  I  was  writing  that  letter  and  the  sere- 
nading bands  were  in  the  streets,  I  wrote  to  my  friends :  *'  We  will  be 
able  to  effect  a  new  Union  upon  the  model  of  the  old,"  and  we  did  form 

171 


172  BENJAMIN  HARVEY  HILL 

a  constitution  which  varied  not  one  whit  in  principle  from  the  one  under 
which  we  had  lived. 

No,  sir ;  the  South  seceded  because  there  was  a  war  made  upon 
what  she  believed  to  be  her  constitutional  rights  by  the  extreme  men  of 
the  North.  Those  extreme  men  of  the  North  were  gaining  absolute 
power  in  the  Federal  Government  as  the  machinery  by  which  to  destroy 
Southern  property.  Then  the  Northern  people  said — a  large  number  of 
the  leaders  and  the  Republican  party  said — that  if  secession  was  desired 
to  be  accomplished,  it  should  be  accomplished  in  peace.  Mr.  Greeley 
said  that  they  wanted  no  Union  pinned  together  by  bayonets.  Here  is 
the  condition  in  which  the  South  was  placed  ;  they  believed  the  Northern 
extremists  would  use  the  machinery  of  the  Government  to  their  injury  ; 
the  people  of  the  South  believed  that  they  would  protect  their  property  by 
forming  a  new  Union  in  the  South  precisely  upon  the  basis  of  the  old. 
They  believed  they  could  do  it  in  peace  ;  and  I  say  here  that  there  were 
thousands  upon  thousands,  yes,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  best  men  of 
the  South,  who  believed  that  the  only  way  to  avoid  a  war  was  to  secede. 
They  believed  the  Northern  conscience  wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  responsi- 
bility for  slavery  ;  they  believed  they  had  a  right  to  protect  their  slave 
property,  and  they  thought  they  would  accommodate  the  Northern  con- 
science by  leaving  the  Union  and  preserving  that  property.  They  believed 
they  could  do  it  in  peace  ;  and  if  they  had  believed  that  a  war  would 
result,  they  never  would  have  seceded. 

Mr.  President,  I  know  I  have  detained  the  Senate  long.  I  was  born 
a  slaveholder.  That  was  a  decree  of  my  country's  laws,  not  my  own.  I 
never  bought  a  slave  save  at  his  own  request ;  and  of  that  I  am  not 
ashamed.  I  was  never  unkind  to  a  slave,  and  all  that  I  ever  owned  will 
bear  cheerful  testimony  to  that  fact.  I  would  never  deprive  a  human 
being,  of  any  race,  or  color,  or  condition,  of  his  right  to  the  equal  protec- 
tion of  the  laws  ;  and  no  colored  man  who  knows  me  believes  I  would. 
Of  all  forms  of  cowardice,  that  is  the  meanest  which  would  oppress  the 
helpless,  or  wrong  the  defenseless  ;  but  I  had  the  courage  to  face  seces- 
sion in  its  maddest  hour  and  say  I  would  not  give  the  American  Union 
for  African  slavery,  and  that  if  slavery  dared  strike  the  Union,  slavery 
would  perish.  Slavery  did  perish,  and  now  in  this  high  council  of  the 
greatest  of  nations,  I  face  the  leaders  of  State  destruction  and  declare  that 
this  ark  of  our  political  covenant,  this  constitutional  casket  of  our  Con- 
federate nation,  encasing  as  it  does  more  of  human  liberty  and  human 
security  and  human  hope  than  any  government  ever  formed  by  man,  I 
would  not  break  for  the  whole  African  race.  And  cursed,  thrice  cursed 
forever,  is  the  man  who  would  ! 


1 


LUCIUS  Q.  C  LAMAR  (18254893) 

AN  ELOQUENT  SON  OF  THE  SOUTH 


A  NATIVE  of  Georgia,  and  a  lawyer  of  Mississippi,  Lucius 
Lamar  represented  the  latter  State  in  Congress  during  the 
"^  exciting  period  from  1856  to  1860,  when  vehement  eloquence 
had  abundant  opportunity  for  its  display.  Casting  his  fortunes  with 
the  South,  he  served  during  the  war  as  a  Confederate  officer  and  a 
commissioner  to  Russia.  The  war  ended,  for  six  years  he  was  a  pro- 
fessor in  the  University  of  Mississippi,  leaving  it  to  enter  the  United 
States  Congress  in  1872.  Four  years  later  he  was  elected  to  the  Sen- 
ate, remaining  there  till  1885,  when  he  became  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  under  President  Cleveland.  In  1888  he  was  made  a  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  During  his  term  in  Con- 
gress that  body  had  no  more  eloquent  and  effective  speaker. 

SUMNER  AND  THE  SOUTH 

[While  maintaining  that  the  South  had  committed  no  moral  or  legal  wrong 
in  its  attempted  secession,  Lamar  was  earnest  in  his  desire  to  heal  the  wounds  of  feel- 
ing remaining  from  the  war.  In  his  graceful  eulogy  of  Charles  Sumner,  after  the 
death  of  the  latter  in  1874,  he  dealt  with  moving  eloquence  upon  the  need  of  burying 
sectional  strife  and  forming  a  union  in  heart  as  well  as  in  hand.  We  append  this 
effective  appeal.] 

It  was  certainly  a  gracious  act  on  the  part  of  Charles  Sumner  toward 
the  South,  though  unhappily  it  jarred  on  the  sensibilities  of  the  people  at 
the  other  extreme  of  the  Union,  to  propose  to  erase  from  the  banners  of 
the  national  army  the  mementoes  of  the  bloody  internal  struggle  which 
might  be  regarded  as  assailing  the  pride  or  wounding  the  sensibilities  of 
the  Southern  people.  The  proposal  will  never  be  forgotten  by  that 
people  so  long  as  the  name  of  Charles  Sumner  lives  in  the  memory  of 
man.     But  while  it  touched  the  heart  and  elicited  her  profound  gratitude, 

173 


174  LUCIUS  Q.  C.  LAMAR 

her  people  would  not  have  asked  of  the  North  such  an  act  of  self-renun- 
ciation. Conscious  that  they  themselves  were  animated  by  devotion  to 
constitutional  liberty,  and  that  the  brightest  pages  of  history  are  replete 
with  evidences  of  the  depth  and  sincerity  of  that  devotion,  they  can  but 
cherish  the  recollection  of  the  battles  fought  and  the  victories  won  in 
defence  of  their  hopeless  cause ;  and  respecting,  as  all  true  and  brave 
men  must  respect,  the  martial  spirit  with  which  the  men  of  the  North 
vindicated  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  and  their  devotion  to  the  principles 
of  human  freedom,  they  do  not  ask,  they  do  not  wish  the  North  to  strike 
the  mementoes  of  heroism  and  victory  from  either  records  or  monuments 
or  battle-flags.  They  would  rather  that  both  sections  should  gather  up 
the  glories  won  by  each  section,  not  envious,  but  proud  of  each  other, 
and  regard  them  as  a  common  heritage  of  American  valor.  L<et  us  hope 
that  future  generations,  when  they  remember  the  deeds  of  heroism  and 
devotion  done  on  both  sides,  will  speak,  not  of  Northern  prowess  or 
Southern  courage,  but  of  the  heroism,  courage  and  fortitude  of  the 
Americans  in  a  war  of  ideas  ;  a  war  in  which  each  section  signalized  its 
consecration  to  the  principles,  as  each  understood  them,  of  American 
liberty  and  of  the  Constitution  received  from  their  fathers. 

Charles  Sumner  in  life  believed  that  all  occasion  for  strife  and  dis- 
trust between  the  North  and  South  had  passed  away,  and  there  no  longer 
remained  any  cause  for  continued  estrangement  between  those  two  sec- 
tions of  our  common  country.  Are  there  not  many  of  us  who  believe  the 
same  thing?  Is  not  that  the  common  sentiment,  or  if  not,  ought  it  not 
to  be,  of  the  great  mass  of  our  people,  North  and  South  ?  Bound  to  each 
other  by  a  common  Constitution,  destined  to  live  together  under  a  com- 
mon Government,  forming  unitedly  but  a  single  member  of  the  great 
family  of  nations,  shall  we  not  now  at  last  endeavor  to  grow  toward  each 
other  once  more  in  heart,  as  we  are  indissolubly  linked  to  each  other  in 
fortunes  ?  Shall  we  not,  while  honoring  the  memory  of  this  great  cham- 
pion of  liberty,  this  feeling  sympathizer  with  human  sorrow,  this  earnest 
pleader  for  the  exercise  of  human  tenderness  and  heavenly  charity,  lay 
aside  the  concealments  which  serve  only  to  perpetuate  misunderstandings 
and  distrust,  and  frankly  confess  that  on  both  sides  we  most  earnestly 
desire  to  be  one — one  not  merely  in  political  organization ;  one  not 
merely  in  community  of  language,  and  literature,  and  traditions,  and 
country  ;  but  more  and  better  than  all  that,  one  also  in  feeling  and  in 
heart  ?  Am  I  mistaken  in  this  ?  Do  the  concealments  of  which  I  speak 
still  cover  animosities  which  neither  time  nor  reflection  nor  the  march  of 
events  have  yet  sufi&ced  to  subdue?  I  cannot  believe  it.  Since  I  have 
been  here  I  have  scrutinized  your  sentiments,  as  expressed  not  merely  in 


LUCIUS  Q.  C.  LAMAR  176 

public  debate,  but  in  the  abandon  of  personal  confidence.  I  know~well 
the  sentiments  of  these  my  Southern  friends,  whose  hearts  are  so  infolded 
that  the  feeling  of  each  is  the  feeling  of  all ;  and  I  see  on  both  sides  only 
the  seeming  of  a  constraint  which  each  apparently  hesitates  to  dismiss. 

The  South — prostrate,  exhausted,  drained  of  her  life-blood  as  well  as 
her  material  resources,  yet  still  honorable  and  true — accepts  the  bitter 
award  of  the  bloody  arbitrament  without  reservation,  resolutely  deter- 
mined to  abide  the  result  with  chivalrous  fidelity.  Yet,  as  if  struck 
dumb  by  the  magnitude  of  her  reverses,  she  suffers  on  in  silence.  The 
North,  exultant  in  her  triumph  and  elevated  by  success,  still  cherishes,  as 
we  are  assured,  a  heart  full  of  magnanimous  emotions  towards  her  dis- 
armed and  discomfited  antagonist ;  and  yet,  as  if  under  some  mysterious 
spell,  her  words  and  acts  are  words  and  acts  of  suspicion  and  distrust. 
Would  that  the  spirit  of  the  illustrious  dead,  whom  we  lament  to-day, 
could  speak  from  the  grave  to  both  parties  to  this  deplorable  discord,  in 
tones  which  would  reach  each  and  every  heart  throughout  this  broad  ter- 
ritory. My  countrymen !  know  one  another  and  you  will  love  one 
another. 


GEORGE  R  HOAR  (1826 ) 

THE  ELOQUENT  ADVOCATE  OF  ANTI-IMPERIALISM 


mHE  war  between  the  United  States  and  Spain,  and  the  new  ter- 
ritorial acquisitions  of  the  United  States  to  which  it  led,  brought 
this  country  face  to  face  with  fresh  governmental  problems, 
some  of  which  were  very  difficult  to  solve.  This  was  especially  the  case 
with  the  Philippine  acquisition,  our  new  island  group  in  the  Pacific, 
with  its  varied  and  restless  inhabitants,  many  of  them  unmanageable 
from  a  noble  cause,  that  of  the  desire  for  independence.  In  this  they 
found  many  sympathizers  in  the  United  States,  who  accused  the  Re- 
publican party  leaders  of  a  tendency  to  imperialism  in  their  endeavor 
to  subject  the  Filipino  insurrectionists.  Prominent  among  these  was 
Senator  George  F.  Hoar,  who  from  his  seat  in  the  Senate  and  on  the 
lecture  platform  earnestly  advocated  the  rights  of  the  "under  dog" 
in  this  Asiatic  fight.  Hoar  has  long  been  acknowledged  as  a  man  of 
fine  statesmanship  and  of  unimpeachable  integrity,  his  high  moral  char- 
acter giving  weight  to  all  his  utterances. 

THE  ORDINANCE  OF  J  787 
[As  a  good  example  of  Senator  Hoar's  oratory  we  offer  an  extract  from  his  address 
at  Marietta,  Ohio,  in  1888,  during  the  celebration  of  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
settlement  of  the  Buckeye  State,  of  which  Marietta  was  the  pioneer  town.  Many 
readers,  indeed,  may  ask  what  was  the  Ordinance  **  that  is  here  placed  on  an  equality 
with  the  Declaration  of  Independence."  In  answer  it  may  be  stated  that  this  cele- 
brated ordinance  was  that  establishing  the  Northwestern  Territory, — north  of  the  Ohio 
and  east  of  the  Mississippi, — its  significant  feature  being  the  declaration  that  slavery 
should  be  forever  excluded  from  that  Territory.  It  was  this  decree  which  Senator 
Hoar  had  in  mind  when  he  stated  that  the  two  declarations  in  question  '  *  devote  the 
nation  to  Equality,  Education,  Religion,  and  Liberty."] 

We  are  not  here  to  celebrate  an  accident.     What  occurred  here  was 
premeditated,  designed,  foreseen.     If  there  be  in  the  universe  a  Power 
which  ordains  the  course  of  history,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  in  the  settlement 
176 


GEORGE  F.  HOAR  177 

of  Ohio  an  occasion  when  the  human  will  was  working  in  harmony 
with  its  own.  The  events  move  onward  to  a  dramatic  completeness. 
Rufus  Putnam  lived  to  see  the  little  colony,  for  whose  protection  against 
the  savage  he  had  built  what  he  described  as  "  the  strongest  fortification 
in  the  United  States,"  grow  to  nearly  a  million  of  people,  and  become 
one  of  the  most  powerful  States  of  the  confederacy.  The  men  who  came 
here  had  earned  the  right  to  the  enjoyment  of  liberty  and  peace,  and  they 
enjoyed  the  liberty  and  peace  they  had  earned.  The  men  who  had  helped 
win  the  war  of  the  Revolution  did  not  leave  the  churches  and  schools  of 
New  England  to  tread  over  again  the  thorny  path  from  barbarism  to 
civilization ;  or  from  despotism  to  self-government.  When  the  appointed 
time  had  come,  and 

"  God  uncovered  the  land 

That  He  hid,  of  old  time,  in  the  West, 
As  the  sculptor  uncovers  the  statue 
When  he  has  wrought  his  best," — 

then,  and  not  till  then,  the  man,  also,  was  at  hand. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  fortunate  circumstances  of  our  history  that  the 
vote  in  the  Continental  Congress  was  substantially  unanimous.  Without 
the  accompaniment  of  the  Ordinance,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
itself  would  have  lost  half  its  value.  It  was  fitting  that  the  whole  country 
should  share  in  the  honor  of  that  act  which,  in  a  later  generation,  was  to 
determine  the  fate  of  the  whole  country. 

We  would  not  forget,  to-day,  the  brave  men  and  noble  women  who 
represented  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hampshire,  in  the 
band  of  pioneers.  Among  them  were  Parsons,  and  Meigs,  and  Varnum, 
and  Greene,  and  Devol,  and  True,  and  Barker,  and  the  Gilmans.  Con- 
necticut made,  a  little  later,  her  own  special  contribution  to  the  settle- 
ment of  Ohio.  Both  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  have  the  right  to  claim, 
and  to  receive,  a  peculiar  share  of  the  honor  which  belongs  to  this  occa- 
sion. They  may  well  clasp  each  other's  hands  anew,  as  they  survey  the 
glory  of  their  work.  The  two  States,  the  two  oldest  of  the  sisterhood, 
— the  State  which  framed  the  first  written  Constitution,  and  the  State 
whose  founders  framed  the  compact  on  the  Mayflower  ;  the  State  which 
produced  Washington,  and  the  State  which  summoned  him  to  his  high 
command  ;  the  State  whose  son  drafted  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  the  State  which  furnished  its  leading  advocate  on  the  floor  ;  the 
mother  of  John  Marshall,  and  the  mother  of  the  President  who  appointed 
him ;  the  State  which  gave  the  General,  and  the  State  which  furnished 
the  largest  number  of  soldiers  to  the  Revolution  ;  the  State  which  gave 
the  territory  of  the  Northwest,  and  the  State  which  gave  its  first  settlers, 
12 


178  GEORGE  F.  HOAR 

— may  well  delight  to  remember  that  they  share  between  them  the  honor 
of  the  authorship  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  When  the  reunited  country 
shall  erect  its  monument  at  Marietta,  let  it  bear  on  one  side  the  names  of 
the  founders  of  Ohio,  on  the  other  side  the  names  of  Jefferson  and  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  and  Carrington  and  Grayson,  side  by  side  with  those  of  Nathan 
Dane  and  Rufus  King  and  Manasseh  Cutler,  beneath  the  supreme  name 
of  Washington.  Representatives  of  Virginia  and  Massachusetts,  them- 
selves in  some  sense  representatives  of  the  two  sections  of  the  country 
which  so  lately  stood  against  each  other  in  arms,  they  will  bear  witness 
that  the  estrangements  of  four  years  have  not  obliterated  the  common  and 
tender  memories  of  two  centuries. 

Forever  honored  be  Marietta,  as  another  Plymouth  !  The  Ordinance 
belongs  with  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  Constitution.  It 
is  one  of  the  three  title-deeds  of  American  constitutional  liberty.  As  the 
American  youth,  for  uncounted  centuries,  shall  visit  the  capital  of  his 
country, — strongest,  richest,  freest,  happiest  of  the  nations  of  the  earth, — 
from  the  stormy  coast  of  New  England,  from  the  luxurious  regions  of  the 
Gulf,  from  the  prairie  and  the  plain,  from  the  Golden  Gate,  from  far 
Alaska, — he  will  admire  the  evidences  of  its  grandeur  and  the  monuments 
of  its  historic  glory.  He  will  find  there  rich  libraries  and  vast  museums, 
which  show  the  product  of  that  matchless  inventive  genius  of  America 
which  has  multiplied  a  thousand-fold  the  wealth  and  comfort  of  human 
life.  He  will  see  the  simple  and  modest  portal  through  which  the  great 
line  of  the  Republic's  chief  magistrates  have  passed,  at  the  call  of  their 
country,  to  assume  an  honor  surpassing  that  of  emperors  and  kings,  and 
through  which  they  have  returned,  in  obedience  to  her  laws,  to  take  their 
place  again  as  equals  in  the  ranks  of  their  fellow-citizens.  He  will  stand 
by  the  matchless  obelisk  which,  loftiest  of  human  structures,  is  itself  but 
the  imperfect  type  of  the  loftiest  of  human  characters.  He  will  gaze 
upon  the  marble  splendors  of  the  Capitol,  in  whose  chambers  are  enacted 
the  statutes  under  which  the  people  of  a  continent  dwell  together  in  peace, 
and  the  judgments  are  rendered  which  keep  the  forces  of  States  and  nation, 
alike,  within  their  appointed  bounds.  He  will  look  upon  the  records  of 
great  wars  and  the  statues  of  great  commanders.  But,  if  he  know  his 
country's  history,  and  consider  wisely  the  sources  of  her  glory,  there  is 
nothing  in  all  these  which  will  so  stir  his  heart  as  two  fading  and  time- 
soiled  papers  whose  characters  were  traced  by  the  hand  of  the  fathers  one 
hundred  years  ago. 

They  are  the  original  records  of  the  Acts  which  devoted  this  nation, 
forever,  to  Equality,  to  Education,  to  Religion,  and  to  Liberty.  One  is 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  other  is  the  Ordinance  of  1787. 


JOHN  I INGALLS  (1 833-1 900) 

THE  FERVID  UPHOLDER  OF  AMERICAN  PRINCIPLES 


lyTJEVER  had  our  country  faced  a  more  serious  and  difficult  prob- 
l\|  lem  than  that  which  arose  before  it  after  the  close  of  the 
^  ^  Civil  War,  when  the  question  of  reconstruction  of  the  subject 
States,  and  their  restoration  to  their  old  place  in  the  National  Union, 
demanded  a  solution.  For  four  years  Congress  wrestled  vigorously, 
almost  desperately,  with  this  problem,  the  difficulty  being  tenfold 
enhanced  by  the  deadlock  which  existed  between  the  President  and 
the  legislative  bodies.  In  the  country  as  in  Congress  a  great  diversity 
of  opinion  existed,  some  favoring  an  unpledged  return  of  the  seceded 
States,  others  being  far  more  severe  in  their  demands.  Among  the 
latter  was  John  James  Ingalls  of  Kansas,  who  was  so  bitter  in  his 
views  of  reconstruction,  that  he  was  denounced  for  "  shaking  the 
bloody  shirt."  Yet  by  nature  he  was  genial  and  sympathetic,  charac- 
teristics which  are  strongly  indicated  in  the  selection  which  we 
append.  A  fluent  orator  and  an  able  debater,  he  became  a  State 
Senator  of  Kansas  in  1861,  and  in  1873  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  in  which  he  sat  for  three  successive  terms.  From  1887 
to  1891  he  officiated  as  president  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate. 

THE  UNDISCOVERED  COUNTRY 

[Few  eulogies  in  the  halls  of  Congress  have  been  abler  and  more  suggestive 
than  that  which  Senator  Ingalls  pronounced  upon  his  late  associate,  Benjamin  H. 
Hill,  in  the  Senate  chamber,  January  25,  1883.  Its  opening  reference  to  '*  the  undis- 
covered country,"  is  especially  beautiful.  The  oration  has  won  fame  as  a  noble 
example  of  eloquence.] 

Ben  Hill  has  gone  to  the  undiscovered  country.  Whether  his  jour- 
ney thither  was  but  one  step  across  an  imperceptible  frontier,  or  whether 
an   interminable   ocean,   black,    unfluctuating,    and   voiceless,    stretches 

179 


180  JOHN  J.   INGALLS 

between  these  earthly  coasts  and  those  invisible  shores — we  do  not  know. 

Whether  on  that  August  morning  after  death  he  saw  a  more  glorious 
sun  rise  with  unimaginable  splendor  above  a  celestial  horizon,  or  whether 
his  apathetic  and  unconscious  ashes  still  sleep  in  cold  obstruction  and 
insensible  oblivion — we  do  not  know. 

Whether  his  strong  and  subtle  energies  found  instant  exercise  in 
another  form,  whether  his  dexterous  and  disciplined  faculties  are  now 
contending  in  another  senate  than  ours  for  supremacy,  or  whether  his 
powers  were  dissipated  and  dispersed  with  his  parting  breath — we  do  not 
know. 

These  are  the  unsolved,  the  insoluble  problems  of  mortal  life  and 
human  destiny,  which  prompted  the  troubled  patriarch  to  ask  that  momen- 
tous question  for  which  the  centuries  have  given  no  answer, — "  If  a  man 
die,  shall  he  live  again  ?  " 

Every  man  is  the  centre  of  a  circle  whose  fatal  circumference  he  can- 
not pass.  Within  its  narrow  confines  he  is  potential,  beyond  it  he 
perishes  ;  and  if  immortality  is  a  splendid  but  delusive  dream,  if  the 
incompleteness  of  every  career,  even  the  longest  and  most  fortunate,  be 
not  supplemented  and  perfected  after  its  termination  here,  then  he  who 
dreads  to  die  should  fear  to  live,  for  life  is  a  tragedy  more  desolate  and 
inexplicable  than  death. 

Of  all  the  dead  whose  obsequies  we  have  paused  to  solemnize  in  this 
Chamber,  I  recall  no  one  whose  untimely  fate  seems  so  lamentable  and 
yet  so  rich  in  prophecy  as  that  of  Senator  Hill.  He  had  reached  the 
meridian  of  his  years.  He  stood  upon  the  high  plateau  of  middle  life,  in 
that  serene  atmosphere  where  temptation  no  longer  assails,  where  the 
clamorous  passions  no  more  distract,  and  where  the  conditions  are  most 
favorable  for  noble  and  enduring  achievement.  His  upward  path  had 
been  through  stormy  adversity  and  contention  such  as  infrequently  falls 
to  the  lot  of  men.  Though  not  without  the  tendency  to  meditation, 
reverie,  and  introspection  which  accompanies  genius,  his  temperament 
was  palestric.  He  was  competitive  and  unpeaceful.  He  was  born  a  pol- 
emic and  controversialist,  intellectually  pugnacious  and  combative,  so 
that  he  was  impelled  to  defend  any  position  that  might  be  assailed  or  to 
attack  any  position  that  might  be  intrenched,  not  because  the  defence  or 
the  assault  was  essential,  but  because  the  positions  were  maintained  and 
that  those  who  held  them  became  by  that  fact  alone  his  adversaries.  This 
tendency  of  his  nature  made  his  orbit  erratic.  He  was  meteoric  rather 
than  planetary,  and  flashed  with  irregular  splendor  rather  than  shone  with 
steady  and  penetrating  rays.  His  advocacy  of  any  cause  was  fearless  to 
the  verge  of  temerity .     He  appeared  to  be  indifferent  to  applause  or  censure 


JOHN  J.   INGALLS  181 

for  their  own  sake.  He  accepted  intrepidly  any  conclusions  that  he 
reached,  without  inquiring  whether  they  were  politic  or  expedient. 

To  such  a  spirit  partisanship  was  unavoidable,  but  with  Senator  Hill 
it  did  not  degenerate  into  bigotry.  He  was  capable  of  broad  generosity, 
and  extended  to  his  opponents  the  same  unreserved  candor  which  he 
demanded  for  himself.  His  oratory  was  impetuous  and  devoid  of  artifice. 
He  was  not  a  posturer  or  phrasemonger.  He  was  too  intense,  too  earnest, 
to  employ  the  cheap  and  paltry  decorations  of  discourse.  He  never 
reconnoitered  a  hostile  position,  nor  approached  it  by  stealthy  parallels. 
He  could  not  lay  siege  to  an  enemy,  nor  beleaguer  him  ;  nor  open 
trenches,  and  sap  and  mine.  His  method  was  the  charge  and  the  onset. 
He  was  the  Murat  of  senatorial  debate.  Not  many  men  of  this  genera- 
tion have  been  better  equipped  for  parliamentary  warfare  than  he,  with 
his  commanding  presence,  his  sinewy  diction,  his  confidence,  and  imper- 
turbable self  control. 

But  in  the  maturity  of  his  powers  and  his  fame,  with  unmeasured 
opportunities  for  achievement  apparently  before  him,  with  great  designs 
unaccomplished ,  surrounded  by  the  proud  and  affectionate  solicitude  of  a 
great  constituency,  the  pallid  messenger  with  the  inverted  torch  beckoned 
him  to  depart.  There  are  few  scenes  in  history  more  tragic  than  that 
protracted  combat  with  death.  No  man  had  greater  inducements  to  live. 
But  in  the  long  struggle  against  the  inexorable  advance  of  an  insidious 
and  mortal  malady,  he  did  not  falter  nor  repine.  He  retreated  with  the 
aspect  of  a  victor ;  and  though  he  succumbed,  he  seemed  to  conquer. 
His  sun  went  down  at  noon,  but  it  sank  among  the  prophetic  splendors 
of  an  eternal  dawn . 

With  more  than  a  hero's  courage,  with  more  than  a  martyr's  fortitude, 
he  waited  the  approach  of  the  inevitable  hour  and  went  to  the  undiscov- 
ered country. 


ROSCOE  CONKLING  (J 8294 888) 

GENERAL  GRANT'S  ELOQUENT  CHAMPION 


mN  1881,  when  President  Garfield  took  his  seat  as  Executive  of  the 
American  nation,  he  did  so  in  large  measure  as  the  representa- 
tive of  a  new  principle  in  American  governmental  economy, 
that  of  Civil  Service  Reform.  Since  the  days  of  Jackson,  fifty  years 
before,  the  discreditable  idea  that  "  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils" 
had  ruled  in  the  political  world,  and  the  official  positions  in  the  gov- 
ernment had  been  filled  from  the  partisans  of  the  ruling  party,  instead 
of  from  those  adapted  by  training  and  education  properly  to  perform 
the  duties  confided  to  them.  Garfield  made  a  vigorous  effort  to  effect 
a  reform  in  this  system,  with  the  result  of  arousing  an  energetic  resist- 
ance in  Congress,  whose  members  had  been  accustomed  to  use  the 
offices  of  the  nation  to  reward  the  controllers  of  votes.  This  resist- 
ance came  to  a  head  when  Roscoe  Conkling  and  Thomas  C.  Piatt 
resigned  from  the  Senate  through  anger  at  being  unable  to  control  the 
appointments  in  New  York  City.  The  lamentable  result  of  the 
excitement  thus  produced  is  well  known,  for  the  assassination  of  the 
President  by  a  disappointed  office-seeker  may  fairly  be  ascribed  to  it. 
As  for  Conkling,  the  legislature  and  people  of  New  York  failed  to 
support  him  in  his  recusant  action,  and  his  political  career  ended  with 
his  retirement  from  the  Senate  in  1881.  I^eJiad  been  a  member  of 
Congress  from  New  York  State  since  1858,  and  of  the  Senate  since  1867. 
His4at©Hiffe"was  passed  in  the  practice  of  the  Jaw^>  He  was  an  effec- 
tive speaker  both  in  and  out  of  the  Senate  Hall.  ^ 

THE  NOMINATION  OF  GRANT 

[What  many  look  upon  as  the  most  effective  nomination  speech  ever  made 
at  a  party  convention  was  that  made  by  Roscoe  Conkling  in  i88o  before  the  National 
Republican  Convention,  when  nominating  Bx-President  Grant  for  a  third  term.     This 
182 


ROSCOE  CONKLING  '  183 

strenuous  effort  failed,  through  the  ineradicable  objection  of  our  people  tor-a  ^hird 
tenn  President,  yet  Conkling's  address  will  live  among  the  telling  examples  of 
American  oratory.     We  append  its  most  striking  portions.] 

When  asked  whence  comes  our  candidate,  we  say,  from  Appomattox. 
Obeying  instructions  I  should  never  dare  to  disregard  ;  expressing,  also, 
my  own  firm  conviction  ;  I  rise  in  behalf  of  the  State  of  New  York  to 
propose  a  nomination  with  which  the  country  and  the  Republican  party 
can  grandly  win.  The  election  before  us  will  be  the  Austerlitz  of  Ameri- 
can politics.  It  will  decide  whether  for  years  to  come  the  country  will 
be  *'  Republican  or  Cossack."  The  need  of  the  hour  is  a  candidate  who 
can  carry  the  doubtful  States,  North  and  South  ;  and,  believing  that  he 
more  surely  than  any  other  can  carry  New  York  against  any  opponent, 
and  carry  not  only  the  North,  but  several  States  of  the  South,  New  York 
is  for  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  He  alone  of  living  Republicans  has  carried  New 
York  as  a  presidential  candidate.  Once  he  carried  it  even  according  to  a 
Democratic  count,  and  twice  he  carried  it  by  the  people's  vote,  and  he  is 
stronger  now.  The  Republican  party  with  its  standard  in  his  hand  is 
stronger  now  than  in  1868  or  1872.  Never  defeated  in  war  or  in  peace, 
his  name  is  the  most  illustrious  borne  by  any  living  man  ;  his  services 
attest  his  greatness,  and  the  country  knows  them  by  heart.  His  fame 
was  born  not  alone  of  things  written  and  said,  but  of  the  arduous  great- 
ness of  things  done  ;  and  dangers  and  emergencies  will  search  in  vain  in 
the  future,  as  they  have  searched  in  vain  in  the  past,  for  any  other  on 
whom  the  nation  leans  with  such  confidence  and  trust.  Standing  on  the 
highest  eminence  of  human  distinction,  and  having  filled  all  lands  with 
his  renown  ;  modest,  firm,  simple,  and  self-poised  ;  he  has  seen  not  only 
the  titled  but  the  poor  and  the  lowly  in  the  utmost  ends  of  the  world  rise 
and  uncover  before  him.  He  has  studied  the  needs  and  defects  of  many 
systems  of  government,  and  he  comes  back  a  better  American  than  ever, 
with  a  wealth  and  knowledge  and  experience  added  to  the  hard  common 
sense  which  so  conspicuously  distinguished  him  in  all  the  fierce  light  that 
beat  upon  him  throughout  the  most  eventful,  trying,  and  perilous  sixteen 
years  of  the  nation's  history. 

Never  having  had  ' '  a  policy  to  enforce  against  the  will  of  the  peo- 
ple," he  never  betrayed  a  cause  or  a  friend,  and  the  people  will  never 
betray  or  desert  him.  Vilified  and  reviled,  truthlessly  aspersed  by  num- 
berless presses,  not  in  other  lands,  but  in  his  own,  the  assaults  upon  him 
have  strengthened  and  seasoned  his  hold  upon  the  public  heart.  The 
ammunition  of  calumny  has  all  been  exploded  ;  the  powder  has  all  been 
burned;  its  force  is  spent;  and  General  Grant's  name  will  glitter  as  a 
bright  and  imperishable  star  in  the  diadem  of  the  Republic  when  those 


184  ROSCOE  CONKLING 

who  have  tried  to  tarnish  it  will  have  moldered  in  forgotten  graves  and 

their  memories  and  epitaphs  have  vanished  utterly 

There  is  no  field  of  human  activity,  responsibility,  or  reason  in  which 
rational  beings  object  to  Grant,  because  he  has  been  weighed  in  the 
balance  and  not  found  wanting,  and  because  he  has  had  unequalled 
experience,  making  him  exceptionally  competent  and  fit.  Prom  the  man 
who  shoes  your  horse  to  the  lawyer  who  pleads  your  case,  the  officer  who 
manages  your  railway,  the  doctor  into  whose  hands  you  give  your  life,  or 
the  minister  who  seeks  to  save  your  soul,  whom  now  do  you  reject  because 
you  have  tried  him  and  by  his  works  have  known  him  ?  What  makes 
the  presidential  office  an  exception  to  all  things  else  in  the  common  sense 
to  be  applied  to  selecting  its  incumbent  ?  Who  dares  to  put  fetters  on  the 
free  choice  and  judgment,  which  is  the  birthright  of  the  American  people  ? 
Can  it  be  said  that  Grant  used  official  power  to  perpetuate  his  plan  ?  He 
has  no  place.  No  official  power  has  been  used  for  him.  Without  patron- 
age or  power,  without  telegraph  wires  running  from  his  house  to  the  con- 
vention, without  electioneering  contrivances,  without  effort  on  his  part, 
his  name  is  on  his  country's  lips,  and  he  is  struck  at  by  the  whole  Demo- 
cratic Party  because  his  nomination  will  be  the  death  blow  to  Democratic 
success.  He  is  struck  at  by  others  who  find  offense  and  disqualification 
in  the  very  service  he  has  rendered  and  the  very  experience  he  has  gained. 
Show  me  a  better  man.  Name  one  and  I  am  answered ;  but  do  not 
point,  as  a  disqualification,  to  the  very  facts  which  make  this  man  fit 
beyond  all  others.  Let  not  experience  disqualify  or  excellence  impeach 
him.  There  is  no  third  term  in  the  case,  and  the  pretense  will  die  with 
the  political  dog-days  which  engendered  it.  Nobody  is  really  worried 
about  a  third  term  except  those  hopelessly  longing  for  a  first  term  and  the 
dupes  they  have  made.  Without  bureaus,  committees,  officials  or  emis- 
saries to  manufacture  sentiment  in  his  favor,  without  intrigue  or  effort  on 
his  part,  Grant  is  the  candidate  whose  supporters  have  never  threatened 
to  bolt.  As  they  say,  he  is  a  Republican  who  never  wavers.  He  and 
his  friends  stood  by  the  creed  and  the  candidates  of  the  Republican  Party, 
holding  the  right  of  a  majority  as  the  very  essence  of  their  faith,  and 
meaning  to  uphold  that  faith  against  the  common  enemy  and  the  charla- 
tans and  the  guerrillas  who  from  time  to  time  deploy  between  the  lines 
and  forage  on  one  side  or  the  other. 


SAMUEL  S-  COX  (J 824- J 889) 

AN  ORATOR  OF  PEACE  AND  GOOD  WILL 


SAMUEL  SULLIVAN  COX,  popularly  known  as  "Sunset  Cox/' 
was  a  man  of  duplex  mind,  being  at  once  instinct  with  the  spirit 
— ^  of  fun  and  capable  of  the  deepest  intensity  of  utterance  and  feel- 
ing. Those  from  whose  lips  wit  flows  easily,  in  whose  thoughts  humor 
shines  like  winter  sunbeams,  are  apt  to  find  it  difficult  to  win  a  repu- 
tation for  gravity  and  earnestness,  yet  Cox,  while  he  could  at  will 
send  ripples  of  laughter  through  an  audience,  could,  when  occasion 
demanded,  be  as  elevated  in  tone  as  any  of  his  fellow-Congressmen. 
He  was  able,  alike  as  a  speaker  and  a  writer.  His  Congressional 
career  is  depicted  in  his  "  Eight  Years  in  Congress,''  and  his  varied 
travels  in  *'  The  Buckeye  Abroad,"'*  Search  for  Winter  Sunbeams,"  and 
various  other  works.  Through  most  of  these  tales  of  travel  a  vein  of 
genial  humor  runs. 

THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT 
[Mr.  Cox's  masterpiece  of  oratory  was  giveu  in  the  peroration  of  a  speech  deliv- 
ered before  the  House  on  the  3rd  of  July,  1879.  The  subject  of  it  is  plainly  enough 
indicated  in  its  language.  It  dealt  with  the  aftermath  of  the  exciting  period  of 
Reconstruction,  that  era  of  '*  test  oaths  and  other  reminiscences  of  our  sad  and  bloody 
strife,"  inciters  to  bitter  passions,  which  the  speaker  so  eloquently  contrasts  with 
the  spirit  of  the  teachings  of  Christ.] 

I  hope  it  may  not  be  presuming  to  say,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  I  have 
been  something  of  a  traveler,  and  have  been  upon  many  mountains  of  our 
star.  I  would  that  my  observations  had  been  better  utilized  for  duty.  I 
have  been  upon  the  Atlas,  whose  giant  shoulders  were  fabled  to  uphold  the 
globe.  I  have  learned  from  there,  that  even  to  Northern  Africa  the  Goths 
brought  their  fueros  or  bills  of  right,  with  their  arms,  from  the  cold  forests 
of  the  North  to  the  sunny  plains  and  rugged  mountains  of  that  old  granary 
of  the  Roman  world.     I  have  been  amid  the  Alps,  where  the  spirit  of  Tell 

185 


186  SAMUEL  S.  COX      . 

and  liberty  is  always  tempered  with  mercy,  and  whose  mountains  are  a 
monument  through  a  thousand  of  years  of  Republican  generosity.  I  have 
been  among  the  Sierras  of  Spain,  where  the  patriot  Riego — whose  hymn 
is  the  Marseillaise  of  the  Peninsula — was  hunted  after  he  had  saved 
constitutional  liberty  and  favored  amnesty  to  all, — the  noblest  example 
of  patriotism  since  the  days  of  Brutus. 

From  the  seven  hills  of  Rome,  down  through  the  corridors  of  time, 
comes  the  story  which  Cicero  relates  from  Thucydides  ;  that  a  brazen 
monument  was  erected  by  the  Thebans  to  celebrate  their  victory  over  the 
I^acedsemonians,  but  it  was  regarded  as  a  memento  of  civil  discord,  and 
the  trophy  was  abolished,  because  it  was  not  fitting  that  any  record 
ahould  remain  of  the  conflict  between  Greek  and  Greek.  From  the  same 
throne  of  ancient  power  come  the  words  which  command  only  commem- 
oration of  foreign  conquests  and  not  of  domestic  calamities ;  and  that 
Rome,  with  her  imperial  grace,  believed  that  it  was  wisest  to  erect  a 
bridge  of  gold,  that  civil  insurgents  should  pass  back  to  their  allegiance. 
From  the  Acropolis  at  Athens,  there  is  the  story  of  the  herald  at  the 
Olympic  games,  who  announced  the  clemency  of  Rome  to  the  conquered, 
who  had  long  been  subjected  to  the  privations  and  calamities  imposed  by 
the  conqueror.  The  historian  says  that  the  Greeks,  when  the  herald 
announced  such  unexpected  deliverance,  wept  for  joy  at  the  grace  which 
had  been  bestowed. 

All  these  are  but  subordinate  lights  around  the  central  light,  which 
came  from  the  mountain  whence  the  great  sermon  was  spoken.  Its  name 
is  unknown  ;  its  locality  has  no  geography.  All  we  know  is  that  it  was 
"se^tjapart." 
r  '  The  mountains  of  our  Scriptures  are  full  of  inspiration  for  our 
/  guidance.  Their  teachings  may  well  be  carried  into  our  political  ethics. 
But  it  was  not  from  Ararat,  which  lifted  its  head  first  above  the  flood  and 
received  the  dove  with  its  olive  branch ;  not  from  Sinai,  which  looks 
proudly  upon  three  nations  and  almost  three  countries  and  overlooks  our 
kind  with  its  great  moral  code  ;  not  from  Horeb,  where  Jehovah  with  his 
fearful  hand  covered  his  face  that  man  might  not  look  upon  his  bright- 
ness ;  not  from  Tabor,  where  the  great  transformation  was  enacted  ;  not 
from  Pisgah,  where  Moses  made  his  farewell  to  the  people  he  had  deliv- 
ered and  led  so  long ;  not  from  Carmel,  where  the  prayer  of  Elijah  was 
answered  in  fire ;  not  from  Lebanon,  whose  cedars  were  the  beauty 
of  earth  ;  not  from  the  Mount  of  Olives,  which  saw  the  agony  of  the 
Saviour  ;  not  from  Calvary,  at  whose  great  tragedy  nature  shuddered  and 
the  heavens  were  covered  with  gloom  ;  not  from  one  or  all  of  these  secu- 
lar or  sacred  mountains  that  our  best  teaching  for  duty  comes.     It  comes 


SAMUEL  S.  COX  187 

from  that  nameless  mountain,  set  apart,   because  from  it  emanated  the 
great  and  benignant  truths  of  Him  who  spake  as  never  man  spake,  j  iiefe- 
is  the  ■feubltnrg'tgad'ftag : 

'*  Ye  have  heard  in  the  aforetime,  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  and  hate  thine  enemy. 

"  But  I  say  unto  you,  I^ove  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you, 
do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use 
you  and  persecute  you. 

**  That  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  : 
for  He  maketh  His  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth 
rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust. " 

The  spirit  of  this  teaching  has  no  hospitality  for  test  oaths,  and  asks 
no  compensation  for  grace.  Along  with  this  teaching  and  to  the  same 
good  are  the  teachings  of  history,  patriotism,  chivalry,  and  even  economic 
selfishness.  Yet  these  teachers  are  often  blind  guides  to  duty.  They  are 
but  mole-hills  compared  with  the  lofty  mountain  whose  spiritual  grandeur 
brings  peace,  order  and  civilization  ! 

When  these  principles  obtain  in  our  hearts,  then  our  legislation  will 
conform  to  them.  When  they  do  obtain  their  hold  in  these  halls,  there 
will  arise  a  brilliant  day-star  for  America.  When  they  do  obtain  recogni- 
tion, we  may  hail  a  new  advent  of  that  Prince  of  Peace,  whose  other 
advent  was  chanted  by  the  angelic  choir  ! 

In  conclusion,  sir,  let  me  say  that,  in  comparison  with  this  celestial 
code,  by  which  we  should  live  and  die,  how  little  seem  all  the  contests 
here  about  armies,  appropriations,  riders  and  coercion,  which  so  exaspe- 
rate and  threaten  !  Let  our  legislation  be  inspired  by  the  lofty  thought 
from  that  Judean  mountain,  and  God  will  care  for  us.  In  our  imperfec- 
tions here  as  legislators  let  us  look  aloft,  and  then  His  greatness  will  flow 
around  our  incompleteness,  and  round  our  restlessness,  His  rest !  " 
Then,  measures  which  make  for  forgiveness,  tranquillity  and  love,  like 
the  abolition  of  hateful  oaths  and  other  reminders  of  our  sad  and  bloody 
strife,  will  rise  in  supernal  dignity  above  the  party  passions  of  the  day ; 
and  that  party  which  vindicates  right  against  might,  freedom  against 
force,  popular  will  against  Federal  power,  rest  against  unrest,  and  God's 
goodness  and  mercy  around  and  above  all,  in  that  sign,  conquer. 

To  those  in  our  midst  who  have  the  spirit  of  violence,  hate,  and 
unforgiveness,  and  who  delight  in  pains,  penalties,  test  oaths,  bayonets 
and  force,  and  who  would  not  replace  these  instruments  of  turbulence 
with  love,  gentleness  and  forgiveness,  my  only  curse  upon  such  is^  that 
God  Almighty,  in  His  abundant  and  infinite  mercy,  may  forgive  them,  for 
"  they  know  not  what  they  do."  \ 


CARL  SCHURZ  (1829 ) 

THE  ABLE  ADVOCATE  OF  CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM 


MORE  than  half  a  century  has  passed  since  the  European  Revo- 
lution of  1848,  which  spread  throughout  the  continent,  and 
"^  ended  with  the  exile  of  many  of  its  ablest  and  most  progressive 
sons.  Prominent  among  those  from  Germany  who  sought  the  land  of 
liberty  beyond  the  seas  was  Carl  Schurz,  who  came  to  the  United  States 
in  1852,  finding  a  new  home  in  Wisconsin.  In  this  country  he  has 
been  free  to  express  his  progressive  sentiments,  and  has  been  very 
active  in  political  labors.  His  career  here  began  in  1 856,  with  speeches 
in  German  in  favor  of  Fremont.  In  1860,  having  learned  English, 
he  canvassed  several  States  for  the  election  of  Lincoln,  and  w^on  a  high 
reputation  as  an  orator.  He  was  rewarded  by  being  appointed  Min- 
ister to  Spain,  and  in  1862  he  entered  the  army  as  brigadier-general, 
and  fought  through  two  years  of  the  w^ar.  Removing  to  St.  Louis  in 
1868,  Missouri  sent  him  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and  under  Presi- 
dent Hayes  he  served  in  the  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  As 
a  public  speaker  Mr.  Schurz  is  plain  and  direct  in  style,  not  given  to 
ornamental  language,  yet  strong  and  effective.  He  is  an  able  writer, 
his  "Life  of  Henry  Clay'^  in  especial  being  regarded  as  a  classic  of 
its  kind.     He  has  also  written  a  "  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.'^ 

AMNESTY  FOR  THE  CONQUERED 

[The  orations  of  Carl  Schurz  cover  a  wide  range  of  time  and  subjects.  Old  as  he 
has  grown  to-day,  he  preserves  his  fluency  as  a  speaker.  In  selecting  from  his  many 
speeches,  however,  we  go  back  to  that  period  after  the  war,  when  the  question  of 
amnesty  for  the  South  was  before  Congress,  and  give  Schurz's  eloquent  and  humane 
views  upon  this  subject.  The  contrast  which  he  pictures  between  the  conditions  of 
the  two  sections  is  animated  and  striking,  and  his  plea  for  mercy  to  the  subjected  one 
of  the  most  forcible  that  could  be  made.] 
188 


CARL  SCHURZ  189 

Sir,  I  have  to  say  a  few  words  about  an  accusation  which  Eas~been 
brought  against  those  who  speak  in  favor  of  universal  amnesty.  It  is  the 
accusation  resorted  to,  in  default  of  more  solid  argument,  that  those  who 
advise  amnesty,  especially  universal  amnesty,  do  so  because  they  have 
fallen  in  love  wiih  the  rebels.  No,  sir,  it  is  not  merely  for  the  rebels  I 
plead.  We  are  asked,  Shall  the  rebellion  go  entirely  unpunished?  No, 
sir,  it  shall  not.  Neither  do  I  think  that  the  rebellion  has  gone  entirely 
unpunished.  I  ask  you,  had  the  rebels  nothing  to  lose  but  their  lives  and 
their  offices  ?  Look  at  it.  There  was  a  proud  and  arrogant  aristocracy, 
planting  their  feet  on  the  necks  of  the  laboring  people,  and  pretending  to 
be  the  born  rulers  of  this  great  republic.  They  looked  down,  not  only 
upon  their  slaves,  but  also  upon  the  people  of  the  North,  with  the  haughty 
contempt  of  self  asserting  superiority.  When  their  pretentions  to  rule  us 
all  were  first  successfully  disputed,  they  resolved  to  destroy  this  republic, 
and  to  build  up  on  the  corner-stone  of  slavery  an  empire  of  their  own,  in 
which  they  could  hold  absolute  sway.  They  made  the  attempt  with  the 
most  overwhelmingly  confident  expectation  of  certain  victory.  Then  came 
the  Civil  War,  and  after  four  years  of  struggle  their  whole  power  and 
pride  lay  shivered  to  atoms  at  our  feet,  their  sons  dead  b}^  tens  of  thous- 
ands on  the  battlefields  of  this  country,  their  fields  and  their  homes  devas- 
tated, their  fortunes  destroyed ;  and,  more  than  that,  the  whole  social 
system  in  which  they  had  their  being,  with  their  hopes  and  pride,  utterly 
wiped  out ;  slavery  forever  abolished,  and  the  slaves  themselves  created  a 
political  power  before  which  they  had  to  bow  their  heads  ;  and  they,  broken, 
ruined,  helpless,  and  hopeless  in  the  dust  before  those  upon  whom  they 
had  so  haughtily  looked  down  as  their  vassals  and  inferiors.  Sir,  can  it 
be  said  that  the  :   oellion  has  gone  entirely  unpunished  ? 

You  may  jject  that  the  loyal  people,  too,  were  subjected  to  terrible 
sufferings  ;  that  their  sons,  too,  were  slaughtered  by  tens  of  thousands  ; 
that  the  mourning  of  countless  widows  and  orphans  is  still  darkening  our 
land ;  that  we  are  groaning  under  terrible  burdens  which  the  rebellion 
has  loaded  upon  us  ;  and  that,  therefore,  part  of  the  punishment  has  fallen 
upon  the  innocent.     And  it  is  certainly  true. 

But  look  at  the  difference.  We  issued  from  this  great  conflict  as 
conquerors  ;  upon  the  graves  of  our  slain  we  could  lay  the  wreath  of  vic- 
tory ;  our  widows  and  orphans,  while  mourning  the  loss  of  their  dearest, 
still  remember  with  proud  exultation  that  the  blood  of  their  husbands  and 
fathers  was  not  spilled  in  vain  ;  that  it  flowed  for  the  greatest  and  holiest 
and  at  the  same  time  the  most  victorious  of  causes  ;  and  when  our  people 
labor  in  the  sweat  of  their  brow  to  pay  the  debt  which  the  rebellion  has 
loaded  upon  us,  they  do  it  with  the  proud  consciousness  that  the  heavy 


190  CARL,  SCHUR^ 

price  they  have  paid  is  infinitely  overbalanced  by  the  value  of  the  results 
they  have  gained  ;  slavery  abolished  ;  the  great  American  Republic  puri- 
fied of  her  foulest  stain  ;  the  American  people  no  longer  a  people  of  masters 
and  slaves,  but  a  people  of  equal  citizens  ;  the  most  dangerous  element  of 
disturbance  and  disintegration  wiped  out  from  among  us,  this  country  put 
upon  the  course  of  harmonious  development,  greater,  more  beautiful, 
mightier  than  ever  in  its  self-conscious  power.  And  thus,  whatever  losses, 
whatever  sacrifices,  whatever  sufferings  we  may  have  endured,  they 
appear  before  us  in  a  blaze  of  glory. 

But  how  do  the  Southern  people  stand  there  ?  All  they  have  sacri- 
ficed, all  they  have  lost,  all  the  blood  they  have  spilled,  all  the  desolation 
of  their  homes,  all  the  distress  that  stares  them  in  the  face,  all  the  wreck 
and  ruin  they  see  around  them — all  for  nothing,  all  for  a  wicked  folly,  all 
for  a  disastrous  infatuation  ;  the  very  graves  of  their  slain  nothing  but 
monuments  of  a  shadowy  delusion  ;  all  their  former  hopes  vanished  for- 
ever ;  and  the  very  magniloquence  which  some  of  their  leaders  are  still 
indulging  in,  nothing  but  a  mocking  illustration  of  their  utter  discom- 
fiture !  Ah,  sir,  if  ever  human  efforts  broke  down  in  irretrievable  disaster, 
if  ever  human  pride  was  humiliated  to  the  dust,  if  ever  human  hopes  were 
turned  into  despair,  there  you  behold  them. 


1 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  (I830490J) 

THE  EXEMPLAR  OF  CHRISTIAN  STATESMANSHIP 


I  T  IT  may  be  supposed  that  Benjamin  Harrison,  twenty-third  Presi- 
I  I  I  dent  of  the  United  States,  attained  this  high  position  through 
the  fact  that  his  grandfather,  General  William  Henry  Harri- 
son, was  President  before  him.  Doubtless  that  fact  had  its  influence 
in  suggesting  his  name  as  a  suitable  one  for  the  presidency.  But  the 
leading  politicians  of  the  United  States  are  seldom  carried  away  by 
sentiment.  They  are  too  hard-headed  for  that.  They  seek  to  select 
the  man  that  the  people  want,  and  had  not  the  younger  Harrison 
made  his  mark  by  ability  in  statesmanship  and  fine  powers  of  oratory, 
his  hereditary  relation  to  the  elder  Harrison  would  have  had  no  influ- 
ence upon  the  nominating  convention.  At  any  rate,  he  was  elected 
President  over  Cleveland  in  1888,  and  that  is  all  with  which  we  are 
here  concerned,  except  the  counter  fact  that  Cleveland  was  elected 
over  him  in  1892.  Defeated  in  a  contest  for  the  governorship  of  his 
State  in  1876,  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  1880,  and 
there  made  the  brilliant  record  that  carried  him  to  the  presidential 
chair  eight  years  afterward.  He  was  one  of  the  most  polished  speakers 
in  public  life. 

INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

[President  Harrison  was  very  ready  as  an  orator,  a  fact  which  he  conclusively 
proved  during  the  presidential  campaign,  his  versatility  in  the  numerous  speeches 
made  by  him  being  quite  remarkable.  He  never  repeated  himself,  and  his  subjects 
were  as  varied  as  the  days.  We  cannot,  however,  offer  a  better  example  of  his  ora- 
torical powers  than  the  address  delivered  by  him  on  his  inauguration  as  President.  It 
strikingly  states  the  relative  duties  of  the  people  and  their  Executive,  and  points  out 
the  only  road  by  which  national  greatness  can  be  reached.] 

There  is  no  constitutional  or  legal  requirement  that  the  President 
shall  take  the  oath  of  ofl&ce  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  but  there  is  so 

191 


192  BENJAMIN  HARRISON 

manifest  an  appropriateness  in  the  public  induction  to  office  of  the  chief 
executive  officer  of  the  nation  that  from  the  beginning  of  the  Government 
the  people,  to  whose  service  the  official  oath  consecrates  the  officer,  have 
been  called  to  witness  the  solemn  ceremonial.  The  oath  taken  in  the 
presence  of  the  people  becomes  a  mutual  covenant.  The  officer  covenants 
to  serve  the  whole  body  of  the  people  by  a  faithful  execution  of  the  laws, 
so  that  they  may  be  the  unfailing  defense  and  security  of  those  who 
respect  and  observe  them,  and  that  neither  wealth,  station,  nor  the  power 
of  combinations  shall  be  able  to  evade  their  just  penalties  or  to  wrest  them 
from  a  beneficent  public  purpose  to  serve  the  ends  of  cruelty  or  selfishness. 

My  promise  is  spoken;  yours  unspoken,  but  not  the  less  real  and 
solemn.  The  people  of  every  State  have  here  their  representatives. 
Surely  I  do  not  misinterpret  the  spirit  of  the  occasion  when  I  assume  .that 
the  whole  body  of  the  people  covenant  with  me  and  with  each  other 
to-day  to  support  and  defend  the  Constitution  and  the  union  of  the  States, 
to  yield  willing  obedience  to  all  the  laws  and  each  to  every  other  citizen 
his  equal  civil  and  political  rights.  Entering  thus  solemnly  into  covenant 
with  each  other,  we  may  reverently  invoke  and  confidently  expect  the 
favor  and  help  of  Almighty  God — that  He  will  give  to  me  wisdom, 
strength  and  fidelity,  and  to  our  people  a  spirit  of  fraternity  and  a  love  of 
righteousness  and  peace. 

This  occasion  derives  peculiar  interest  from  the  fact  that  the  presi- 
dential term,  which  begins  this  day,  is  the  twenty-sixth  under  our  Con- 
stitution. The  first  inauguration  of  President  Washington  took  place  in 
New  York,  where  Congress  was  then  sitting,  on  the  thirtieth  day  of 
April,  1789,  having  been  deferred  by  reason  of  delays  attending  the 
organization  of  Congress  and  the  canvass  of  the  electoral  vote.  Our 
people  have  already  worthily  observed  the  centennials  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  of  the  Battle  of  Yorktown,  and  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution,  and  will  shortly  celebrate  in  New  York  the  institution  of 
the  second  great  department  of  our  constitutional  scheme  of  government. 
When  the  centennial  of  the  institution  of  the  judicial  department,  by  the 
organization  of  the  Supreme  Court,  shall  have  been  suitably  observed,  as 
I  trust  it  will  be,  our  nation  will  have  fully  entered  its  second  century. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  note  the  marvelous  and,  in  a  great  part,  happy 
contrasts  between  our  country  as  it  steps  over  the  threshold  into  its 
second  century  of  organized  existence  under  the  Constitution  and  that 
weak  but  wisely  ordered  young  nation  that  looked  undauntedly  down  the 
first  century,  when  all  its  years  stretched  out  before  it. 

Our  people  will  not  fail  at  this  time  to  recall  the  incidents  which 
accompanied  the  institution  of  government  under  the  Constitution,  or  to 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  193 

find  inspiration  and  guidance  in  the  teachings  and  example  of  "Washing- 
ton and  his  great  associates,  and  hope  and  courage  in  the  contrast  which 
thirty-eight  populous  and  prosperous  States  offer  to  the  thirteen  States, 
weak  in  everything  except  courage  and  the  love  of  liberty,  that  then 
fringed  our  Atlantic  seaboard 

Let  us  exalt  patriotism  and  moderate  party  contention.  L,et  those 
who  would  die  for  the  flag  on  the  field  of  battle  give  a  better  proof  of  their 
patriotism  and  a  higher  glory  to  their  country  by  promoting  fraternity 
and  justice.  A  party  success  that  is  achieved  by  unfair  methods  or  by 
practices  that  partake  of  revolution  is  hurtful  and  evanescent,  even  from 
a  party  standpoint.  We  should  hold  our  differing  opinions  in  mutual 
respect,  and,  having  submitted  them  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  ballot, 
should  accept  an  adverse  judgment  with  the  same  respect  that  we  would 
have  demanded  of  our  opponents  if  the  decision  had  been  in  our  favor. 

No  other  people  have  a  government  more  worthy  of  respect  and  love, 
or  a  land  so  magnificent  in  extent,  so  pleasant  to  look  upon,  and  so  full 
of  generous  suggestion  to  enterprise  and  labor.  God  has  placed  upon  our 
head  a  diadem,  and  has  laid  at  our  feet  power  and  wealth  beyond  defini- 
tion or  calculation.  But  we  must  not  forget  that  we  take  these  gifts  upon 
the  condition  that  justice  and  mercy  shall  hold  the  reins  of  power,  and 
that  the  upward  avenues  of  hope  shall  be  free  to  all  the  people. 

I  do  not  mistrust  the  future.  Dangers  have  been  in  frequent  ambush 
along  our  path,  but  we  have  uncovered  and  vanquished  them  all.  Pas- 
sion has  swept  some  of  our  communities,  but  only  to  give  us  a  new 
demonstration  that  the  great  body  of  our  people  are  stable,  patriotic,  and 
law-abiding.  No  political  party  can  long  pursue  advantage  at  the 
expense  of  public  honor  or  by  rude  and  indecent  methods,  without  protest 
and  fatal  disaffection  in  its  own  body.  The  peaceful  agencies  of  com- 
merce are  more  fully  revealing  the  necessary  unity  of  all  our  communi- 
ties, and  the  increasing  intercourse  of  our  people  is  promoting  mutual 
respect.  We  shall  find  unalloyed  pleasure  in  the  revelation  which  our 
next  census  will  make  of  the  swift  development  of  the  great  resources  of 
some  of  the  States.  Each  State  will  bring  its  generous  contribution  to 
the  great  aggregate  of  the  nation's  increase.  And  when  the  harvests 
from  the  fields,  the  cattle  from  the  hills,  and  the  ores  from  the  earth  shall 
have  been  weighed,  counted  and  valued,  we  will  turn  from  them  all  to 
crown  with  the  highest  honor  the  State  that  has  most  promoted  education, 
virtue,  justice,  and  patriotism  among  its  people. 


13 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY  (18434901) 

THE  ELOQUENT  EXPONENT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  TARIFF 


mN  1865  Abraham  Lincoln,  forty  days  after  his  second  inaugura- 
tion as  President  of  the  United  States,  fell  the  victim  of  an 
assassin's  bullet.  In  1881,  James  A.  Garfield,  four  months  after 
his  first  inauguration  as  President,  met  with  a  similar  fate.  In  1901, 
William  McKinley,  six  months  after  his  second  inauguration,  also  fell 
before  the  fatal  bullet  of  the  assassin.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the 
United  States,  the  home  of  liberty,  should  have  suffered  in  this  way 
more  severely  than  any  of  the  homes  of  monarchy  beyond  the  seas. 
In  the  case  of  McKinley  there  was  far  less  incitement  to  the  murder- 
ous act  than  in  those  of  Lincoln  and  Garfield,  whose  violent  deaths 
were  due  to  the  passions  excited  by  war  and  reform.  But  McKinley 
fell  in  a  time  of  peace  and  great  prosperity,  with  scarcely  a  personal 
enemy  in  the  whole  great  republic,  and  when  present  at  a  celebration 
typical  of  the  vast  advance  of  civilization  in  America.  He  fell  the 
victim  of  a  horde  of  insensate  assassins,  without  home  or  country,  and 
with  no  creed  but  that  of  death  to  rulers,  whether  they  be  the  auto- 
crats of  empires  or  the  elected  executives  of  republics.  Virtue  and 
benevolence  are  no  safeguards  against  such  hands,  and  men  supreme 
in  honor  and  goodness  have  no  better  security  than  those  superior  only 
in  vice  and  oppression. 

William  McKinley  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  a  regiment  of  which 
State  he  entered  as  a  private  in  the  Civil  War,  rising  in  rank  to  the 
grade  of  brevet  major  by  the  end  of  the  war.  Taking  afterward  an 
active  part  in  Republican  politics,  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  where 
he  became  noted  as  a  leading  advocate  of  protective  tariff.  His  efforts 
led  to  the  high  tariff  bill  of  1890,  which  is  known  by  his  name.  He 
was  subsequently  Governor  of  Ohio,  and  was  nominated  and  elected 
194 


WILLIAM  Mckinley  195 

President  of  the  United  States  in  1896,  and  again  in  1900,  the  Spanish- 
American  War  and  the  PhiHppine  insurrection  making  his  adminis- 
tration a  notably  exciting  one.  The  fatal  deed  which  closed  his  career 
took  place  during  a  visit  to  the  Pan-American  Exposition  at  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  death  coming  to  him  on  September  14,  1901,  a  week  after  the 
anarchist's  deadly  act. 

THE  AGENCIES  OF  MODERN  PROSPERITY 

[On  September  5,  1901,  the  day  before  his  fatal  wound  was  received,  Presi- 
dent McKinley  delivered  before  an  assembled  multitude  at  the  Buffalo  Exposition  an 
address  which  attracted  attention  throughout  the  nation,  alike  from  the  fact  that  it 
was  his  final  one,  and  that  it  suggested  the  growing  need  of  a  change  in  the  tariff 
policy  which  he  had  for  many  years  upheld.  In  view  of  these  facts  we  give  here  the 
salient  points  of  this  significant  and  interesting  address.] 

Expositions  are  the  timekeepers  of  progress .  They  record  the  world 's 
advancement.  They  stimulate  the  energy,  enterprise  and  intellect  of  the 
people,  and  quicken  human  genius.  They  go  into  the  home.  They 
broaden  and  brighten  the  daily  life  of  the  people.  They  open  mighty 
storehouses  of  information  to  the  student.  Every  exposition,  great  or 
small,  has  helped  to  some  onward  step.  Comparison  of  ideas  is  always 
educational,  and  as  such  instructs  the  brain  and  hand  of  man.  Friendly 
rivalry  follows,  which  is  the  spur  to  industrial  improvement,  the  inspira- 
tion to  useful  invention  and  to  high  endeavor  in  all  departments  of  human 
activity.  It  exacts  a  study  of  the  wants,  comforts,  and  even  the  whims 
of  the  people,  and  recognizes  the  efficacy  of  high  quality  and  new  prices  to 
win  their  favor. 

The  quest  for  trade  is  an  incentive  to  men  of  business  to  devise,  invent, 
improve  and  economize  in  the  cost  of  production.  Business  life,  whether 
among  ourselves,  or  with  other  people,  is  ever  a  sharp  struggle  for  suc- 
cess. It  will  be  none  the  less  so  in  the  future.  Without  competition 
we  would  be  clinging  to  the  clumsy  and  antiquated  processes  of  farming 
and  manufacture  and  the  methods  of  business  of  long  ago,  and  the  twen- 
tieth would  be  no  further  advanced  than  the  eighteenth  century.  But, 
though  commercial  competitors  we  are,  commercial  enemies  we  must 
not  be 

After  all,  how  near  one  to  the  other  is  every  part  of  the  world. 
Modern  inventions  have  brought  into  close  relation  widely  separated  peo- 
ples and  made  them  better  acquainted.  Geographic  and  political  divisions 
will  continue  to  exist,  but  distances  have  been  effaced.  Swift  ships  and 
fast  trains  are  becoming  cosmopolitan.  They  invade  fields  which  a  few 
years  ago  were  impenetrable.     The  world's  products  are  exchanged  as 


196  WILLIAM  McKINLEY 

never  before,  and  with  increasing  transportation  facilities  come  increasing 
knowledge  and  larger  trade.  Prices  are  fixed  with  mathematical  precision 
by  supply  and  demand.  The  world's  selling  prices  are  regulated  by 
market  and  crop  reports.  We  travel  greater  distances  in  a  shorter  space 
of  time,  and  with  more  ease,  than  was  ever  dreamed  of  by  the  fathers. 

Isolation  is  no  longer  possible  or  desirable.  The  same  important 
news  is  read,  though  in  different  languages,  the  same  day  in  all  Christen- 
dom. The  telegraph  keeps  us  advised  of  what  is  occurring  everywhere, 
and  the  press  foreshadows,  with  more  or  less  accuracy,  the  plans  and  pur- 
poses of 'nations.  Market  prices  of  products  and  of  securities  are  hourly 
known  in  every  commercial  mart,  and  the  investments  of  the  people 
extend  beyond  their  own  national  boundaries  into  the  remotest  parts  of 
the  earth.  Vast  transactions  are  conducted  and  international  exchanges 
are  made  by  the  tick  of  the  cable.  Every  event  of  interest  is  immediately 
bulletined. 

The  quick  gathering  and  transmission  of  news,  like  rapid  transit,  are 
of  recent  origin,  and  are  only  made  possible  by  the  genius  of  the  inventor 
and  the  courage  of  the  investor.  It  took  a  special  messenger  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, with  every  facility  known  at  the  time  for  rapid  travel,  nineteen 
days  to  go  from  the  city  of  Washington  to  New  Orleans,  with  a  message 
to  General  Jackson  that  the  war  with  England  had  ceased  and  a  treaty  of 
peace  had  been  signed.     How  different  now  !  .    .    .    . 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  was  not  a  mile  of 
steam  railroad  on  the  globe.  Now  there  are  enough  miles  to  make  its 
circuit  many  times.  Then  there  was  not  a  line  of  electric  telegraph  ; 
now  we  have  a  vast  mileage  traversing  all  lands  and  all  seas.  God  and 
man  have  linked  the  nations  together.  No  nation  can  longer  be  indiffer- 
ent to  any  other.  And,  as  we  are  brought  more  and  more  in  touch  with 
each  other,  the  less  occasion  is  therefor  misunderstanding  and  the  stronger 
the  disposition,  when  we  have  differences,  to  adjust  them  in  the  court  of 
arbitration,  the  noblest  form  for  the  settlement  of  international  disputes. 

My  fellow-citizens,  trade  statistics  indicate  that  this  country  is  in  a 
state  of  unexampled  prosperity.  The  figures  are  almost  appalling.  They 
show  that  we  are  utilizing  our  fields  and  forests  and  mines,  and  that  we 
are  furnishing  profitable  employment  to  the  millions  of  workingmen 
throughout  the  United  States,  bringing  comfort  and  happiness  to  their 
homes,  and  making  it  possible  to  lay  by  savings  for  old  age  and  dis- 
ability. , 

That  all  the  people  are  participating  in  this  great  prosperity  is  seen 
in  every  American  community,  and  shown  by  the  enormous  and  unprece- 
dented deposits  in  our  savings  banks.     Our  duty  is  the  care  and  security 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY  197 

of  these  deposits,  and  their  safe  investment  demands  the  highest  inlegrity 
and  the  best  business  capacity  of  those  in  charge  of  these  depositories  of 
the  people's  earnings. 

We  have  a  vast  and  intricate  business,  built  up  through  years  of  toil 
and  struggle*  in  which  every  part  of  the  country  has  its  stake,  which  will 
not  permit  of  either  neglect  or  undue  selfishness.  No  narrow,  sordid 
policy  will  subserve  it.  The  greatest  skill  and  wisdom  on  the  part  of 
manufacturers  and  producers  will  be  required  to  hold  and  increase  it. 
Our  industrial  enterprises,  which  have  grown  to  such  great  proportions, 
affect  the  homes  and  occupations  of  the  people  and  the  welfare  of  the 
country. 

Our  capacity  to  produce  has  developed  so  enormously,  and  our  pro- 
ducts have  so  multiplied,  that  the  problem  of  more  markets  requires  our 
urgent  and  immediate  attention.  Only  a  broad  and  enlightened  policy 
will  keep  what  we  have.  No  other  policy  will  get  more.  In  these  times 
of  marvelous  business  energy  and  gain  we  ought  to  be  looking  to  the 
future,  strengthening  the  weak  places  in  our  industrial  and  commercial 
systems,  that  we  may  be  ready  for  any  storm  or  strain. 

By  sensible  trade  arrangements  which  will  not  interrupt  our  home 
production  we  shall  extend  the  outlet  for  our  increasing  surplus.  A  sys- 
tem which  provides  a  mutual  exchange  of  commodities  is  manifestly 
essential  to  the  continued  and  healthful  growth  of  our  export  trade.  We 
must  not  repose  in  fancied  security  that  we  can  forever  sell  everything  and 
buy  little  or  nothing.  If  such  a  thing  were  possible  it  would  not  be  best 
for  us ,  or  for  those  with  whom  we  deal .  We  should  take  from  our  cus- 
tomers such  of  their  products  as  we  can  use  without  harm  to  our  indus- 
tries and  labor. 

Reciprocity  is  the  natural  outgrowth  of  our  wonderful  industrial 
development  under  the  domestic  policy  now  firmly  established.  What  we 
produce  beyond  our  domestic  consumption  must  have  a  vent  abroad.  The 
excess  must  be  relieved  through  a  foreign  outlet,  and  we  should  sell  every- 
where we  can  and  buy  wherever  the  buying  will  enlarge  our  sales  and 
productions,  and  thereby  make  a  greater  demand  for  home  labor. 

The  period  of  exclusiveness  is  past.  The  expansion  of  our  trade 
and  commerce  is  the  pressing  problem.  Commercial  wars  are  unprofit- 
able. A  policy  of  good  will  and  friendly  trade  relations  will  prevent 
reprisals.  Reciprocity  treaties  are  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the 
times ;  measures  of  retaliation  are  not.  If,  perchance,  some  of  our  tariffs 
are  no  longer  needed  for  revenue  or  to  encourage  and  protect  our  indus- 
tries at  home,  why  should  they  not  be  employed  to  extend  and  promote 
our  markets  abroad?     Then,  too,  we  have  inadequate  steamship  service. 


198  WILLIAM  McKINLEY 

New  lines  of  steamers  have  already  been  put  into  commission  between 
the  Pacific  Coast  ports  of  the  United  States  and  those  on  the  western 
coasts  of  Mexico  and  Central  and  South  America.  These  should  be  fol- 
lowed up  with  direct  steamship  lines  between  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
United  States  and  South  American  ports. 

One  of  the  needs  of  the  times  is  direct  commercial  lines  from  our  vast 
fields  of  production  to  the  fields  of  consumption  that  we  have  but  barely- 
touched.  Next  in  advantage  to  having  the  thing  to  sell  is  to  have  the 
convenience  to  carry  it  to  the  buyer.  We  must  encourage  our  mer- 
chant marine.  We  must  have  more  ships.  They  must  be  under  the 
American  flag,  built  and  manned  and  owned  by  Americans.  These  will 
not  only  be  profitable  in  a  commercial  sense  ;  they  will  be  messengers  of 
peace  and  amity  wherever  they  go. 

We  must  build  the  Isthmian  Canal,  which  will  unite  the  two  oceans 
and  give  a  straight  line  of  water  communication  with  the  western  coasts 
of  Central  and  South  America  and  Mexico.  The  construction  of  a  Pacific 
cable  cannot  be  longer  postponed 

Who  can  tell  the  new  thoughts  that  have  been  awakened,  the  ambi- 
tions fired  and  the  high  achievements  that  will  be  wrought  through  this 
Exposition  ?  Gentlemen,  let  us  ever  remember  that  our  interest  is  in 
accord,  not  conflict,  and  that  our  real  eminence  rests  in  the  victories  of 
peace,  not  those  of  war.  We  hope  that  all  who  are  represented  here  may 
be  moved  to  higher  and  nobler  effort  for  their  own  and  the  world's  good, 
and  that  out  of  this  city  may  come,  not  only  greater  commerce  and  trade 
for  us  all,  but,  more  essential  than  these,  relations  of  mutual  respect,  con- 
fidence and  friendship  which  will  deepen  and  endure. 

Our  earnest  prayer  is  that  God  will  graciously  vouchsafe  prosperity, 
happiness  and  peace  to  all  our  neighbors,  and  like  blessings  to  all  the  peo- 
ples and  powers  of  earth. 


ALBERT  J.  BEVERIDGE  (J 862  ^^) 

THE  BRILLIANT  INDIANA  ORATOR 


HMONG  the  younger  men  who  have  attained  the  honor  of  member- 
ship in  the  United  States  Senate  may  be  named  Albert  Jeremiah 
Beveridge,  whose  elevation  to  a  seat  in  that  distinguished  body 
was  a  suitable  reward  for  his  brilliant  oratorical  powers  and  statesman- 
like abilities.  Like  so  many  of  our  leading  legislators,  Mr.  Beveridge 
was  essentially  a  self-made  man.  Born  on  an  Ohio  farm,  he  obtained 
an  education  by  working  his  way  through  DePauw  University,  for 
which  laudable  purpose  he  took  up  the  honorable  calling  of  a  book- 
agent.  His  adopted  profession  was  that  of  the  law,  in  which  he  became 
an  advocate  in  many  important  cases  in  the  courts  of  Indiana.  While 
still  a  boy,  he  had  shown  himself  a  ready  and  eloquent  speaker  in  col- 
lege contests,  and  he  now  employed  his  skill  in  oratory  in  the  field  of 
Republican  politics,  winning  so  high  a  position  in  his  party  as  to  be 
elected  to  the  Senate  from  Indiana  for  the  term  beginning  March, 
1899.  In  the  summer  of  1899,  Mr.  Beveridge  visited  Eastern  Asia, 
where  he  made  a  thorough  study  of  the  relations  of  the  Russians  and 
Chinese  in  Manchuria,  his  observations  leading  to  a  series  of  illumin- 
ating letters  which  throw  new  light  upon  the  position  and  purposes 
of  Russia  in  Asia. 

EULOGY  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY 

[At  the  meeting  of  the  National  League  of  Republican  Clubs,  held  at  Chicago 
in  October,  1902,  Senator  Beveridge  made  a  brief  but  telling  speech,  than  which  we 
can  offer  no  more  characteristic  example  of  his  style  of  oratory.  Its  occasion  gave 
the  cue  to  its  character,  which  is  that  of  an  ardent  eulogy  of  the  Republican  party, 
of  whose  principles  Mr.  Beveridge  is  an  earnest  advocate.] 

Young  blood  is  Republican  blood.     It  is  the  blood  that  believes  and 
builds;  the  blood  of  faith  and  hope  and  deeds.     That  is  why  there  is  np 

199 


200  ALBERT  J.  BEVERIDGE 

political  home  for  Young  Americans  except  in  the  Republican  party. 
Young  Americans  are  believers  in  the  Republic's  future.  They  do  not 
think  that  all  the  great  work  has  been  done. 

Last  year  the  Superintendent  of  a  great  railway  system  that  enters 
Chicago — himself  a  penniless,  friendless  boy  w^ho  started  as  a  freight 
handler  at  50  cents  a  day,  and  who  is  now  only  50  years  of  age — told  me 
that  among  the  10,000  men  under  him  he  was  searching  for  an  Assistant 
Superintendent  equal  to  the  work  required.  Said  he:  ''  The  question  is 
not,  Shall  I  take  Brown  or  Jones  or  Smith?  The  question  is,  Where  is  the 
man  ?"  And  that  is  the  question  which  industry  and  politics  and  religion 
and  all  the  world  has  asked  since  the  dawn  of  history,  and  never  asked  so 
earnestly  as  to-day.  "  Where  is  the  man?"  asks  modern  society.  And 
the  Republican  party  would  have  you  say :  *  'I  am  he  by  virtue  of  my  good 
right  hand  !  I  am  he  by  virtue  of  days  of  toil  and  nights  of  study ! "  Dem- 
ocracy would  have  you  say  in  answer  :  **I  am  not  he,  and  he  does  not  live. 
You  ask  too  much  You  ask  for  equipment ;  I  offer  you  complaint.  You 
ask  industry  ;  I  offer  you  words." 

Greater  America  and  Republicanism  ;  little  America  and  Democracy. 
It  is  no  new  story.  In  the  history  of  every  expanding  race,  its  advance 
has  been  opposed  within  itself.  In  England  there  were  and  are  little  Bng- 
landers  who  saw  ruin  in  every  forward  march  of  the  British  Empire  that 
circles  the  world  with  civilization.  In  Russia  there  were  little  Russians 
who  resisted  the  instinct  of  expansion  and  held  in  check  for  half  a  cen- 
tury the  flight  of  the  Russian  eagles.  In  Germany  there  were  little  Ger- 
mans who  fought  the  consolidation  of  the  German  people.  Where  are  all 
of  them  now  ?  History  has  efiaced  their  names  from  the  chronicles  of 
time,  as  nature  destroys  all  trace  of  resistance  to  her  fecund  and  produc- 
tive forces.  So  shall  it  be  in  America,  and  the  children's  children  of 
those  who  now  declare  that  imperialism  is  our  death,  and  not  our  life, 
will  refuse  to  admit  that  their  fathers  advocated  such  a  doctrine ;  and 
they  will  refuse  successfully,  because  the  world  will  have  forgotten  the 
names  of  those  who  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  resisted 
the  Republic's  world  advance. 

You  cannot  name  the  men  who  fought  Jefferson's  purchase  of  Louisi- 
ana ;  they  are  forgotten.  You  cannot  name  the  men  who  declared  that 
the  seizure  of  Texas  and  California  was  the  Republic's  doom  ;  they  are 
forgotten.  You  cannot  name  the  men  who  declaimed  against  the  folly  of 
taking  Alaska;  they  are  forgotten.  Yet,  when  Jefferson's  works  shall 
have  grown  dim,  his  capture  for  the  Republic  of  the  vast  territory  which 
is  now  the  Republic's  heart  will  be  his  immortal  monument.  When 
Seward's  irrepressible  conflict  shall  have  become  a  curious  phrase,  his 


ALBERT  J.  BEVERIDGE  201 

acquisition  of  Alaska  will  be  his  justification.     When  William  McKinley's 

name  remains  but  a  beautiful  memory,  and  his  internal  counsels  shall  have 

lost  their  interest  under  changing  conditions,  the  empire  of  the  Pacific 

and  the  Gulf  which  his  statesmanship  gave  us  will  lift  larger  and  larger  as 

one  of  the  few  mountain  peaks  of  permanent  and  world-wide  American 

statesmanship. 

THE  REPUBLIC  NEVER  RETREATS 

[We  add,  from  a  recent  speech  of  Senator  Beveridge,  an  eloquent  tribute  of 
praise  to  the  great  American  Republic] 

The  Republic  nevei:  retreats.  Why  should  it  retreat  ?  The  Republic 
is  the  highest  form  of  civilization,  and  civilization  must  advance.  The 
Republic's  young  men  are  the  most  virile  and  unwasted  of  the  world,  and 
they  pant  for  enterprise  worthy  of  their  power.  The  Republic's  prepara- 
tion has  been  the  self  discipline  of  a  century,  and  that  preparedness  has 
found  its  task.  The  Republic's  opportunity  is  as  noble  as  itsstength,  and 
that  opportunity  is  here.  The  Republic's  duty  is  as  sacred  as  its  oppor- 
tunity is  real,  and  Americans  never  desert  their  duty. 

The  Republic  could  not  retreat  if  it  would ;  whatever  its  destiny  it 
must  proceed.  For  the  American  Republic  is  a  part  of  the  movement  of 
a  race — the  most  masterful  race  of  history — and  race  movements  are  not 
to  be  stayed  by  the  hand  of  man.  They  are  mighty  answers  to  Divine 
commands.  Their  leaders  are  not  only  statesmen  of  peoples — they  are 
prophets  of  God.  The  inherent  tendencies  of  a  race  are  its  highest  law. 
They  precede  and  survive  all  statutes,  all  constitutions.  The  first  ques- 
tion real  statesmanship  asks  is :  What  are  the  abiding  characteristics  of 
my  people?  From  that  basis  all  reasoning  may  be  natural  and  true. 
From  any  other  basis  all  reasoning  must  be  artificial  and  false. 

The  sovereign  tendencies  of  our  race  are  organization  and  govern- 
ment. We  govern  so  well  that  we  govern  ourselves.  We  organize  by 
instinct.  Under  the  flag  of  England  our  race  builds  an  empire  out  of  the 
ends  of  earth.  In  Australia  it  is  to-day  erecting  a  nation  out  of  fragments. 
In  America  it  wove  out  of  segregated  settlements  that  complex  and  won- 
derful organization,  called  the  American  Republic.  Everywhere  it  builds. 
Everywhere  it  governs.  Everywhere  it  administers  order  and  law.  Every- 
where it  is  the  spirit  of  regulated  liberty.  Everywhere  it  obeys  that  voice 
not  to  be  denied  which  bids  us  strive  and  rest  not,  makes  of  us  our  brother's 
keeper  and  appoints  us  steward  under  God  of  the  civilization  of  the  world . 

Organization  means  growth.  Government  means  administration. 
When  Washington  pleaded  with  the  States  to  organize  into  a  consolidated 
people,  he  was  the  advocate  of  perpetual  growth.  When  Abraham  Lincoln 
argued  for  the  indivisibility  of  the  Republic  he  became  the  prophet  of  the 


202  ALBERT  J.  BEVERIDGE 

Greater  Republic.  And  when  they  did  both,  they  were  but  the  inter- 
preters of  the  tendencies  of  the  race 

What  of  England  ?  England's  immortal  glory  is  not  Agincourt 
or  Waterloo.  It  is  not  her  merchandise  or  commerce.  It  is  Australia, 
New  Zealand  and  Africa  reclaimed.  It  is  India  redeemed.  It  is  Egypt, 
mummy  of  the  nations,  touched  into  modern  life.  England's  imperishable 
renown  is  in  English  science  throttling  the  plague  in  Calcutta.  English 
law  administering  order  in  Bombay.  English  energy  planting  an  indus- 
trial civilization  from  Cairo  to  the  Cape,  and  English  discipline  creating 
soldiers,  men  and  finally  citizens,  perhaps,  even  out  of  the  fellaheen  of 
the  dead  land  of  the  Pharaohs.  And  yet  the  liberties  of  Englishmen  were 
never  so  secure  as  now.  And  that  which  is  England's  undying  fame  has 
also  been  her  infinite  profit,  so  sure  is  duty  golden  in  the  end. 

And  what  of  America  ?  With  the  twentieth  century  the  real  task  and 
true  life  of  the  Republic  begins.  And  we  are  prepared.  We  have  learned 
restraint  from  a  hundred  years  of  self-control.  We  are  instructed  by  the 
experience  of  others.  We  are  advised  and  inspired  by  present  example. 
And  our  work  awaits  us. 

The  dominant  notes  in  American  history  have  thus  far  been  self-gov- 
ernment and  internal  improvement.  But  these  were  not  ends  only,  they 
were  means  also.  They  were  modes  of  preparation.  The  dominant  notes 
in  American  life  henceforth  will  be  not  only  self-government  and  internal 
development,  but  also  administration  and  world  improvement.  It  is  the 
arduous  but  splendid  mission  of  our  race.  It  is  ours  to  govern  in  the 
name  of  civilized  liberty.  It  is  ours  to  administer  order  and  law  in  the 
name  of  human  progress.  It  is  ours  to  chasten  that  we  may  be  kind,  it  is 
ours  to  cleanse  that  we  may  save,  it  is  ours  to  build  that  free  institutions 
may  finally  enter  and  abide.  It  is  ours  to  bear  the  torch  of  Christianity 
where  midnight  has  reigned  a  thousand  years.  It  is  ours  to  reinforce  that 
thin  red  line  which  constitutes  the  outposts  of  civilization  all  around  the 
world. 


JOSEPH  R  CHOATE  (1832  — -) 

THE  DISTINGUISHED  BEARER  OF  A  FAMOUS  NAME 


JUFUS  CHOATE,  the  greatest  of  American  legal  orators,  has  a 
close  rival  for  his  fame  in  a  second  of  his  name,  Joseph  H. 
Choate,  like  him  a  native  of  New  England,  though  New  York 
City  has  been  the  scene  of  his  triumphs  at  the  bar.  Hailing  from 
Salem,  Massachusetts,  for  many  years  he  played  a  leading  part  in  im- 
portant cases  in  the  courts  of  New  York,  where  his  standing  as  a  faith- 
ful citizen  made  him  one  of  the  Committee  of  Seventy  that  broke  up 
the  infamous  Tweed  Ring.  His  deep  learning  in  Constitutional  law 
raised  him,  in  1894,  to  the  responsible  position  of  President  of  the 
New  Y'ork  State  Constitutional  Convention,  and  in  1899  he  was  ap- 
pointed Ambassador  to  England,  a  post  which  he  has  filled  with  dis- 
tinguished ability,  and  graced  by  his  fine  social  and  oratorical  quali- 
ties. 

FARRAGUT  AT  MOBILE 

[Choate  for  years  past  has  been  called  into  service  in  New  York,  on  all  occasions 
where  graceful  and  telling  oratory  was  desired.  One  of  these  was  the  unveiling  of 
the  Saint-Gaudens  statue  of  Farragut,  May  25,  1S81,  when  he  thus  eloquently  pictured 
our  naval  hero's  gallantry  at  Mobile.] 

The  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  has  long  since  become  a  favorite  topic  of 
history  and  song.  Had  not  Farragut  himself  set  an  example  for  it  at 
New  Orleans,  this  greatest  of  all  his  achievements  would  have  been  pro- 
nounced impossible  by  the  military  world,  and  its  perfect  success  brought 
all  mankind  to  his  feet  in  admiration  and  homage.  As  a  signal  instance 
of  one  man's  intrepid  courage  and  quick  resolve  converting  disaster  and 
threatened  defeat  into  overwhelming  victory,  it  had  no  precedent  since 
Nelson  at  Copenhagen,  defying  the  orders  of  his  superior  officer  and 
refusing  to  obey  the  signal  to  retreat,  won  a  triumph  that  placed  his  name 
9,niong  the  immortals. 


204  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

When  Nelson's  lieutenant  on  the  Elephant  pointed  out  to  him  the 
signal  to  recall  by  the  commander-in-chief,  the  battered  hero  of  the  Nile 
clapped  his  spyglass  with  his  only  hand  to  his  blind  eye  and  exclaimed  : 
"I  really  do  not  see  any  signal.  Keep  mine  for  closer  battle  flying. 
That's  the  way  to  answer  such  signals.  Nail  mine  to  the  mast  !  ' '  and  so  he 
went  on  and  won  the  great  day. 

When  the  Brooklyn  hesitated  among  the  fatal  torpedoes  in  the  terrible 
jaws  of  Fort  Morgan,  at  the  sight  of  the  Tecumseh  exploding  and  sinking 
with  the  brave  Craven  and  his  ill-fated  hundred  in  her  path,  it  was  one  of 
those  critical  moments  on  which  the  destinies  of  battle  hang. 

Napoleon  said  it  was  always  the  quarters  of  an  hour  that  decided  the 
fate  of  a  battle  ;  but  here  a  single  minute  was  to  win  or  lose  the  day,  for 
when  the  Brooklyn  began  to  back,  the  whole  line  of  Federal  ships  were 
giving  signs  of  confusion  ;  while  they  were  in  the  very  mouth  of  hell 
itself,  the  batteries  of  Fort  Morgan  making  the  whole  of  Mobile  Point  a 
living  flame.  It  was  the  supreme  moment  of  Farragut's  life.  If  he 
faltered  all  was  lost.  If  he  went  on  in  the  torpedo -strewn  path  of  the 
Tecumseh  he  might  be  sailing  to  his  death.  It  seemed  as  though  Nelson 
himself  were  in  the  maintop  of  the  Hartford.  '  *  What's  the  trouble  ?  ' '  was 
shouted  from  the  flagship  to  the  Brooklyn,  ' '  Torpedoes  !  ' '  was  the  reply. 
"  Damn  the  torpedoes  !  "  said  Farragut.  "  Four  bells.  Captain  Drayton  ; 
go  ahead  full  speed."     And  so  he  led  his  fleet  to  victory 

Van  Tromp  sailed  up  and  down  the  British  Channel  in  sight  of  the 
coast  with  a  broom  at  his  masthead,  in  token  of  his  purpose  to  sweep  his 
hated  rival  from  the  seas.  The  greatest  of  English  admirals,  in  his  last 
fight,  as  he  was  bearing  down  upon  the  enemy,  hoisted  on  his  flagship  a 
signal  which  bore  these  memorable  words  :  "  England  expects  every  man 
to  do  his  duty  ' ' — words  which  have  inspired  the  courage  of  Englishmen 
from  that  day  to  this  ;  but  it  was  reserved  for  Farragut,  as  he  was  bearing 
down  upon  the  death-dealing  batteries  of  the  rebels,  to  hoist  nothing  less 
than  himself  into  the  rigging  of  his  flagship,  as  the  living  signal  of  duty 
done,  that  the  world  might  see  that  what  England  had  only  expected 
America  had  fully  realized,  and  that  every  man,  from  the  rear-admiral 
down,  was  faithful 

The  golden  days  of  peace  have  come  at  last,  as  we  hope,  for  many 
generations.  The  great  armies  of  the  Republic  have  long  since  been  dis- 
banded. Our  peerless  navy,  which  at  the  close  of  the  war  might  have 
challenged  the  combined  squadrons  of  the  world,  has  almost  ceased  to 
exist.  But  still  we  are  safe  from  attack  from  within  and  from  without. 
The  memory  of  the  heroes  is  "the  cheap  defense  of  the  nation,  the  nurse 
of  manly  sentiments  and  heroic  enterprises  forever."     Our  frigates  may 


JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE  205 

rot  in  the  harbor.  Our  ironclads  may  rust  in  their  dock.  Butrif-ever 
again  the  flag  is  in  peril,  invincible  armies  will  swarm  upon  the  land,  and 
steel- clad  squadrons  leap  forth  upon  the  sea  to  maintain  it.  If  we  only 
teach  our  children  patriotism  as  the  first  duty  and  loyalty  as  the  first 
virtue,  America  will  be  safe  in  the  future  as  in  the  past  ....  When  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion  came  suddenly  upon  us,  we  had  a  few  ancient  frigates, 
a  few  unseaworthy  gunboats,  but  when  it  ended  our  proud  and  triumphant 
navy  counted  seven  hundred  and  sixty  vessels  of  war,  of  which  seventy 
were  ironclads.  We  can  always  be  sure  then  of  fleets  and  armies  enough. 
But  shall  we  always  have  a  Grant  to  lead  the  one  and  a  Farragut  to  inspire 
the  other  ?  Will  our  future  soldiers  and  sailors  share,  as  theirs  almost  to 
the  last  man  shared,  their  devotion,  their  courage,  and  their  faith?  Yes, 
in  this  one  condition ;  that  every  American  child  learns  from  his  cradle, 
as  Farragut  learned  from  his,  that  his  first  and  last  duty  is  to  his  country, 
that  to  live  for  her  is  honor,  and  to  die  for  her  is  glory. 

OUR  PILGRIM  MOTHERS 

[In  an  after-dinner  speech  made  by  Mr.  Choate  in  1880,  before  the  New  Eng- 
land Society  in  New  York,  he  made  a  happy  response  to  the  toast  **Our  Pilgrim 
Mothers,"  of  which  we  give  the  most  effective  and  humorous  passage.] 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  believe  you  said  I  should  say  something  about  the 
Pilgrim  mothers.  Well,  sir,  it  is  rather  late  in  the  evening  to  venture 
upon  that  historic  subject.  But,  for  one,  I  pity  them.  The  occupants  of 
the  galleries  will  bear  me  witness  that  even  these  modern  Pilgrims — these 
Pilgrims  with  all  the  modern  improvements — how  hard  it  is  to  put  up 
with  their  weaknesses,  their  follies,  their  tyrannies,  their  oppressions, 
their  desire  of  dominion  and  rule.  But  when  you  go  back  to  the  stern 
horrors  of  the  Pilgrim  rule,  when  you  contemplate  the  rugged  character 
of  the  Pilgrim  fathers,  why  you  give  credence  to  what  a  witty  woman  of 
Boston  said — she  had  heard  enough  of  the  glories  and  virtues  and  suffer- 
ings of  the  Pilgrim  fathers ;  for  her  part  she  had  a  world  of  sympathy  for 
the  Pilgrim  mothers,  because  they  not  only  endured  all  that  the  Pilgrim 
fathers  had  done,  but  they  also  had  to  endure  the  Pilgrim  fathers  to  boot. 


HENRY  W.  GRADY  (I85J4889) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  THE  ^^ NEW  SOUTH'' 


EEW  recent  oratiocs  have  had  so  great  an  effect  in  the  North  as 
those  dehvered  by  Henry  W.  Grady,  Georgia's  young  orator, 
at  New  York,  on  "  The  New  South,"  and  at  Boston,  on  "  The 
Future  of  the  Negro.''  Here  was  a  voice  from  the  South  which  the 
North  was  glad  to  hear,  new  light  shed  on  two  of  the  greatest  problems 
of  the  country,  and  a  hand  held  out  for  all  true  patriots  to  grasp. 
Unfortunately  death  carried  off  this  able  orator  before  his  powers  had 
reached  their  prime.  Born  at  Athens,  Georgia,  in  1851,  Grady,  on 
reaching  manhood,  made  journalism  his  profession,  and  in  1880 
became  editor  of  the  Atlanta  Constitution^  in  whose  management  he 
soon  gained  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  ablest  of  American 
editors.  Though  he  died  nine  years  afterward,  he  lived  long  enough 
to  win  a  fame  that  extended  through  all  sections  of  the  land,  and  his 
speeches  did  much  to  allay  prejudice  and  draw  the  North  and 
South  into  a  closer  union. 

THE  NEW  SOUTH 
[The  address,  from  the  closing  part  of  which  we  offer  a  selection,  was  delivered 
in  1887,  at  the  annual  banquet  of  the  New  England  Club  in  New  York.  The  banquets 
of  this  club  have  often  been  made  the  occasion  for  speeches  upon  topics  of  national 
importance,  but  none  of  these  have  attracted  more  attention  than  Grady's  eloquent 
presentation  of  the  new  conditions  in  the  South.] 

There  was  a  South  of  secession  and  slavery — that  South  is  dead. 
There  is  a  South  of  union  and  freedom — that  South  is  living,  breathing, 
growing  every  hour. 

I  accept  the  term,  ''  The  New  South,"  as  in  no  sense  disparaging  to 

the  Old.     Dear  to  me  is  the  home  of  my  childhood  and  the  traditions  of 

my  people.     There  is  a  New  South,  not  through  protest  against  the  Old, 

but  because  of  new  conditions,  new  adjustments,  and,  if  you  please,  new 

206 


HENRY   W.  GRADY  207 

ideas  and  aspirations.  It  is  to  this  that  I  address  myself.  You  have  just 
heard  an  eloquent  description  of  the  triumphant  armies  of  the  North,  and 
the  grand  review  at  Washington.  I  ask  you,  gentlemen,  to  picture,  if  you 
can,  the  foot-sore  soldier  who,  buttoning  up  in  his  faded  gray  jacket  the 
parole  which  was  taken,  testimony  to  his  children  of  his  fidelity  and  faith, 
turned  his  face  southward  from  Appomattox  in  April,  1865.  Think  of 
him  as  ragged,  half-starved,  heavy-hearted,  enfeebled  by  want  and 
wounds.  Having  fought  to  Exhaustion,  he  surrenders  his  gun,  wrings 
the  hands  of  his  comrades,  and,  lifting  his  tear-stained  and  pallid  face  for 
the  last  time  to  the  graves  that  dot  the  old  Virginia  hills,  pulls  his  gray 
cap  over  his  brow  and  begins  the  slow  and  painful  journey.  What  does 
he  find  ? — let  me  ask  you,  who  went  to  your  homes  eager  to  find  all  the 
welcome  you  had  justly  earned,  full  payment  for  four  years'  sacrifice — 
what  does  he  find,  when  he  reaches  the  home  he  left  four  years  before  ? 
He  finds  his  home  in  ruins,  his  farm  devastated,  his  slaves  freed,  his  stock 
killed,  his  barns  empty,  his  trade  destroyed,  his  money  worthless,  his 
social  system,  feudal  in  its  magnificence,  swept  away,  his  people  without 
law  or  legal  status,  his  comrades  slain,  and  the  burdens  of  others  heavy 
on  his  shoulders.  Crushed  by  defeat,  his  very  traditions  gone,  without 
money,  credit,  employment,  material,  or  training  ;  and,  besides  all  this, 
confronted  with  the  gravest  problem  that  ever  met  human  intelligence — 
the  establishing  of  a  status  for  the  vast  body  of  his  liberated  slaves. 

What  does  he  do — this  hero  in  gray  with  a  heart  of  gold — does  he  sit 
down  in  sullenness  and  despair?  Not  for  a  day.  Surely,  God,  who  had 
scourged  him  in  his  prosperity,  inspired  him  in  his  adversity  !  As  ruin 
was  never  before  so  overwhelming,  never  was  restoration  swifter. 

The  soldiers  stepped  from  the  trenches  into  the  furrow  ;  the  horses 
that  had  charged  upon  General  Sherman's  line  marched  before  the  plow, 
and  fields  that  ran  red  with  human  blood  in  April  were  green  with  the  har- 
vest in  June.  From  the  ashes  left  us  in  1864,  we  have  raised  a  brave  and 
beautiful  city  ;  and,  somehow  or  other,  we  have  caught  the  sunshine  in 
the  bricks  and  mortar  of  our  homes  and  have  builded  therein  not  one 
single  ignoble  prejudice  or  memory. 

It  is  a  rare  privilege,  sir,  to  have  had  part,  however  humble,  in  this 
work.  Never  was  nobler  duty  confided  to  human  hands  than  the  uplifting 
and  upbuilding  of  the  prostrate  South — misguided,  perhaps,  but  beautiful 
in  her  suffering,  and  honest,  brave,  and  generous  always.  On  the  record  of 
her  social,  industrial,  and  political  restoration  we  await  with  confidence 
the  verdict  of  the  world. 

The  old  South  rested  everything  on  slavery  and  agriculture,  uncon- 
scious that  these  could  neither  give  nor  maintain  healthy  growth.     The 


208  HENRY  W.  GRADY 


New  South  presents  a  perfect  democracy,  the  oligarchs  leading  in  the 
popular  movement — a  social  system  compact  and  closely  knitted,  less 
splendid  on  the  surface  but  stronger  at  the  core — a  hundred  farms  for 
every  plantation,  fifty  homes  for  every  palace  ;  and  a  diversified  industry 
that  meets  the  complex  needs  of  this  complex  age. 

The  new  South  is  enamored  of  her  work.  Her  soul  is  stirred  with 
the  breath  of  a  new  life.  The  light  of  a  grander  day  is  falling  fair  in  her 
face.  She  is  thrilling  with  the  consciousness  of  growing  power  and  pros- 
perity. 

As  she  stands  full-statured  and  equal  among  the  people  of  the  earth, 
breathing  the  keen  air  and  looking  out  upon  an  expanding  horizon,  she 
understands  that  her  emancipation  came  because  in  the  inscrutable  wis- 
dom of  God  her  honest  purpose  was  crossed  and  her  brave  armies  were 
beaten.  This  is  said  in  no  spirit  of  time-serving  and  apology.  The  South 
has  nothing  to  take  back ;  nothing  for  which  she  has  excuses  to  make. 
In  my  native  town  of  Athens  is  a  monument  that  crowns  its  central  hills — 
a  plain  white  shaft.  Deep  cut  into  its  shining  sides  is  a  name  dear  to  me 
above  the  names  of  men,  that  of  a  brave  and  simple  man  who  died  in 
brave  and  simple  faith.  Not  for  all  the  glories  of  New  England,  from 
Plymouth  Rock  all  the  way,  would  I  exchange  the  heritage  he  left  me  in 
his  patriot's  death.  But,  sir,  speaking  from  the  shadow  of  that  memory, 
which  I  honor  as  I  do  nothing  else  on  earth,  I  say  that  the  cause  in  which 
he  suffered  and  for  which  he  gave  his  life  was  adjudged  by  higher  and 
fuller  wisdom  than  his  or  mine,  and  I  am  glad  that  the  omniscient  God 
held  the  balance  of  battle  in  His  almighty  hand  and  that  the  American 
Union  was  saved  from  the  wreck  of  war. 

I  stand  here,  Mr.  President,  to  profess  no  new  loyalty.  When  General 
Lee,  whose  heart  was  the  temple  of  our  hopes  and  whose  arm  was  clothed 
with  our  strength,  renewed  his  allegiance  to  the'  government  at  Appo- 
mattox, he  spoke  from  a  heart  too  great  to  be  false,  and  he  spoke  for  every 
honest  man  from  Maryland  to  Texas.  From  that  day  to  this,  Hamilcar 
has  nowhere  in  the  South  sworn  young  Hannibal  to  hatred  and  vengeance 
— but  everywhere  to  loyalty  and  to  love.  Witness  the  soldier  standing  at 
the  base  of  a  Confederate  monument  above  the  graves  of  his  comrades, 
his  empty  sleeve  tossing  in  the  April  wind,  adjuring  the  young  men  about 
him  to  serve  as  honest  and  loyal  citizens  the  government  against  which 
their  fathers  fought.  This  message,  delivered  from  that  sacred  presence, 
has  gone  home  to  the  hearts  of  my  fellows !  And,  sir,  I  declare  here,  if 
physical  courage  be  always  equal  to  human  aspirations,  that  they  would 
die,  sir,  if  need  be,  to  restore  this  Republic  their  fathers  fought  to  dissolve ! 


1 


/ 


HENRY  CABOT  LODGE  (J850- 

HISTORIAN,  ORATOR  AND  STATESMAN 


EOR  many  years  the  name  of  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  has  been  known 
to  the  American  public  as  that  of  a  versatile  and  able  historian, 
on  the  subjects  of  English  and  American  history.  Some  of  his 
books  are,  "  Land-Law  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,"  "  English  Colonies  in 
America,"  "  Studies  in  History,"  and  "  The  Spanish-American  War." 
He  was  also  the  well  known  editor,  for  a  number  of  years,  of  the  *'  North 
American  Heview,"  and  the  "  International  Review."  He  has  long 
been  a  prominent  political  orator  in  Massachusetts,  and  was  elected  to 
Congress  in  1887.  In  1893  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
in  which  he  still  ably  represents  Massachusets  by  oratory  and  states- 
manship. Senator  Lodge  long  since  made  his  mark  as  a  learned, 
graceful  and  eloquent  speaker,  and  a  statesman  of  exalted  character. 

A  PARTY  ON  LIVE  ISSUES 
[In  the  Republican  National  Convention  of  1900,  Senator  Lodge  was  chosen  as 
permanent  chairman,  and  delivered  a  powerful  and  impressive  speech,  in  which  he 
specially  dwelt  upon  the  work  of  the  Republican  party  during  the  preceding  four 
years  of  the  McKinley  administration.  We  give  some  illustrative  extracts  from  this 
address.] 

We  promised  to  deal  with  the  Cuban  question.  We  have  done  so. 
The  long  agony  of  the  island  is  over.  Cuba  is  free.  But  this  great  work 
brought  with  it  events  and  issues  which  no  man  had  foreseen,  for  which  no 
party  creed  had  provided  a  policy.  The  crisis  came,  bringing  war  in  its 
train.  The  Republican  President  and  the  Republican  Congress  met  the 
new  trial  in  the  old  spirit.  We  fought  the  war  with  Spain.  The  result 
is  history  known  of  all  men.  We  have  the  perspective  now  of  only  a 
short  two  years,  and  yet  how  clear  and  bright  the  great  facts  stand  out, 
like  mountain  peaks  against  the  sky,  while  the  gathering  darkness  of  a 
just  oblivion  is  creeping  fast  over  the  low  grounds  where  lie  forgotten  the 
14  209 


210  HENRY  CABOT  LODGE 

trivial  and  unimportant  things,  the  criticisms  and  the  fault-findings,  which 
seemed  so  huge  when  we  still  lingered  among  them.  Here  they  are, 
these  great  facts  : 

A  war  of  a  hundred  days,  with  many  victories  and  no  defeats,  with 
no  prisoners  taken  from  us  and  no  advance  stayed,  with  a  triumphant  out- 
come startling  in  its  completeness  and  in  its  world-wide  meaning.  Was 
evera  war  more  justly  entered  upon,  more  quickly  fought,  more  fully  won, 
more  thorough  in  its  results?  Cuba  is  free.  Spain  has  been  driven  from 
the  Western  Hemisphere.  Fresh  glory  has  come  to  our  arms  and  crowned 
our  flag.  It  was  the  work  of  the  American  people,  but  the  Republican 
party  was  their  instrument.  Have  we  not  the  right  to  say  that,  here  too, 
even  as  in  the  days  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  we  have  fought  a  good  fight,  we 
have  kept  the  faith,  we  have  finished  the  work  ? 

War,  however,  is  ever  like  the  sword  of  Alexander.  It  cuts  the 
knots.  It  is  a  great  solvent  and  brings  many  results  not  to  be  foreseen. 
The  world  forces  unchained  in  war  perform  in  hours  the  work  of  years  of 
quiet.  Spain  sued  for  peace.  How  was  that  peace  to  be  made  ?  The 
answer  to  this  great  question  had  to  be  given  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  We  were  victorious  in  Cuba,  in  Porto  Rico,  in  the  Philip- 
pines. Should  we  give  those  islands  back  to  Spain  ?  Never  !  was  the 
President's  reply.  Would  any  American  wish  that  he  had  answered 
otherwise  ?  Should  we  hand  them  over  to  some  other  power  ?  Never  ! 
was  again  the  answer.  Would  our  pride  and  self-respect  as  a  nation  have 
submitted  to  any  other  reply  ?  Should  we  turn  the  islands,  where  we  had 
destroyed  all  existing  sovereignty,  loose  upon  the  world  to  be  a  prey  to 
domestic  anarchy  and  the  helpless  spoil  of  some  other  nation  ?  Again  the 
inevitable  negative.  Again  the  President  answered  as  the  nation  he  repre- 
sented would  have  him  answer.  He  boldly  took  the  islands  ;  took  them 
knowing  well  the  burden  and  the  responsibility  ;  took  them  from  a  deep 
sfense  of  duty  to  ourselves  and  others,  guided  by  a  just  foresight  as  to  our 
future  in  the  East,  and  with  entire  faith  in  the  ability  of  the  American 
people  to  grapple  with  the  new  task.  When  future  conventions  point  to 
the  deeds  by  which  the  Republican  party  has  made  history,  they  will  pro- 
claim with  especial  pride  that  under  a  Republican  Administration  the 
war  of  1898  was  fought,  and  that  the  peace  with  Spain  was  the  work  of 
William  McKinley. 

So  much  for  the  past.  We  are  proud  of  it,  but  we  do  not  expect  to  live 
upon  it,  for  the  Republican  party  is  pre-eminently  the  party  of  action,  and 
its  march  is  ever  forward.  We  are  not  so  made  that  we  can  be  content  to 
retreat  or  to  mark  time.  The  traditions  of  the  early  days  of  our  party  are 
sacred  to  us,  and  are  hostages  given  to  the  American  people  that  we  will 


HENRY  CABOT  LODGE  211 

not  be  unworthy  of  the  great  leaders  who  have  gone.  The  deeds~of^yes- 
terday  are  in  their  turn  a  proof  that  what  we  promise  we  perform,  and 
that  the  people  who  put  faith  in  our  declarations  in  1896  were  not  deceived, 
and  may  place  the  same  trust  in  us  in  1900.  But  our  pathway  has  never 
lain  among  dead  issues,  nor  have  we  won  our  victories  and  made  history 
by  delving  into  political  graveyards.  We  are  the  party  of  to-day,  with 
cheerful  yesterdays  and  confident  to-morrows.  The  living  present  is  ours, 
the  present  of  prosperity  and  activity  in  business,  of  good  wages  and  quick 
payments,  of  labor  employed  and  capital  invested,  of  sunshine  in  the 
market  place,  and  the  stir  of  abounding  life  in  the  workshop  and  on  the 
farm.  It  is  with  this  that  we  have  replaced  the  depression,  the  doubts, 
the  dull  business,  the  low  wages,  the  idle  labor,  the  frightened  capital, 
the  dark  clouds  which  overhung  industry  and  agriculture  in  1896.  This 
is  what  we  would  preserve,  so  far  as  sound  government  and  wise  legisla- 
tion can  do  it.  This  is  what  we  brought  to  the  country  four  years  ago. 
This  is  what  we  offer  now.  Again  we  promise  that  the  protective  system 
shall  be  maintained,  and  that  our  great  industrial  interests  shall  go  on 
their  way  unshaken  by  the  dire  fear  of  tariff  agitation  and  of  changing 
duties.  Again  we  declare  that  we  will  guard  the  national  credit,  uphold 
a  sound  currency  based  on  gold,  and  keep  the  wages  of  the  workingman 
and  the  enterprise  of  the  man  of  business  free  frora  that  most  deadly  of  all 
evils,  a  fluctuating  standard  of  value.  The  deficit  which  made  this  great 
country  in  a  time  of  profound  peace  a  borrower  of  money  to  meet  its 
current  expenditures  has  been  replaced  by  abundant  revenues,  bringing  a 
surplus,  due  alike  to  prosperity  and  to  wise  legislation,  so  ample  that  we 
can  now  safely  promise  a  large  reduction  of  taxation  without  imperiling 

our  credit  or  risking  a  resort  to  loans 

It  is  on  these  facts  that  we  shall  ask  for  the  support  of  the  American 
people.  What  we  have  done  is  known ,  and  about  what  we  intend  to  do  there 
is  neither  secrecy  nor  deception.  What  we  promise  we  will  perform.  Our 
old  policies  are  here,  alive,  successful  and  full  of  vigor.  Our  new  policies 
have  been  begun,  and  for  them  we  ask  support.  When  the  clouds  of  im- 
pending civil  war  hung  dark  over  the  country  in  1861 ,  we  took  up  the  great 
task  then  laid  upon  us,  and  never  flinched  until  we  had  carried  it  through 
to  victory.  Now,  at  the  dawn  of  a  new  century,  with  new  policies  and 
new  opportunities  opening  before  us  in  the  bright  sunshine  of  prosperity, 
we  again  ask  the  American  people  to  entrust  us  with  their  future.  We 
have  profound  faith  in  the  people.  We  do  not  distrust  their  capacity  of 
meeting  the  new  responsibilities,  even  as  they  met  the  old,  and  we  shall 
await  with  confidence,  under  the  leadership  of  William  McKinley,  the 
verdict  of  November. 


JOSEPH  B.  FORAKER  (J 846 ) 

OHIO'S  POPULAR  ORATOR  STATESMAN 


mHE  life  of  Governor  Foraker  has  been  an  active  and  distinguished 
one.  While  a  mere  boy  he  fought  through  the  Civil  War, 
entering  as  private  in  an  Ohio  regiment,  and  leaving  as  brevet 
captain.  Leaving  the  army  still  a  boy,  he  entered  college,  graduating 
at  Cornell  in  1869.  Adopting  the  legal  profession,  in  two  years'  time 
he  raised  himself  to  the  position  of  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  at 
Cincinnati.  He  became  early  known  as  a  prominent  Republican  poli- 
tician and  orator,  and  ran  four  times  as  candidate  for  Governor  of 
Ohio.  He  was  twice  elected,  in  1885  and  1887.  In  1897  he  was  sent 
to  Congress  as  United  States  Senator  for  Ohio.  In  the  Republican 
National  Convention  of  1900,  at  Philadelphia,  Senator  Foraker,  as 
representing  Ohio,  McKinley's  native  State,  renominated  William 
McKinley  for  the  Presidency,  amid  a  universal  burst  of  applause. 

THE  UNITED  STATES  UNDER  McKINLEY 

[In  nominating  President  McKinley  for  a  second  term,  Senator  Foraker  took 
occasion  to  depict  the  progress  of  the  country  during  the  preceding  McKinley  admin- 
istration, his  address  full  of  an  appreciative  eloquence  of  which  we  give  the  follow- 
ing illustrative  example.] 

From  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other  in  every  mind  only  one  and  the 
same  man  is  thought  of  for  the  honor  which  we  are  now  about  to  confer,  and 
that  man  is  the  first  choice  of  every  other  man  who  wishes  Republican 
success  next  November. 

On  this  account  it  is  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  or  any  one  else  to 
speak  for  him  here  or  elsewhere.  He  has  already  spoken  for  himself,  and 
to  all  the  world.  He  has  a  record  replete  with  brilliant  achievements,  a 
record  that  speaks  at  once  both  his  performances  and  highest  eulogy.  It 
comprehends  both  peace  and  war,  and  constitutes  the  most  striking 
212 


JOSEPH  B.  FORAKER  213 

illustration  possible  of  triumphant  and  inspiring  fidelity,  and  success  in 
the  discharge  of  public  duty. 

Four  years  ago  the  American  people  confided  to  him  their  highest  and 
most  sacred  trust.  Behold,  with  what  results.  He  found  the  industries 
of  the  country  paralyzed  and  prostrated  ;  he  quickened  them  with  a  new 
life  that  has  brought  to  the  American  people  a  prosperity  unprecedented 
in  all  their  history.  He  found  the  labor  of  this  country  everywhere  idle  ; 
he  has  given  it  everywhere  employment.  He  found  it  everywhere  in  des- 
pair ;  he  has  made  it  everywhere  prosperous  and  buoyant  with  hope.  He 
found  the  mills  and  shops  and  factories  and  mines  everywhere  closed  ;  they 
are  now  everywhere  open. 

And  while  we  here  deliberate,  they  are  sending  their  surplus  products 
in  commercial  conquest  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth.  Under  his  wise 
guidance  our  financial  standard  has  been  firmly  planted  high  above  and 
beyond  assault,  and  the  wild  cry  of  sixteen  to  one,  so  full  of  terror  and 
long  hair  in  1896,  has  been  put  to  everlasting  sleep  alongside  of  the  lost 
cause,  and  other  cherished  Democratic  heresies  in  the  catacombs  of  Ameri- 
can politics.  With  a  diplomacy  never  excelled  and  rarely  equaled,  he  has 
overcome  what  at  times  seemed  to  be  insurmountable  difficulties,  and  has 
not  only  opened  to  us  the  door  of  China,  but  he  has  advanced  our  interests 
in  every  land. 

Mr.  Chairman,  we  are  not  surprised  by  this,  for  we  anticipated  it  all. 
When  we  nominated  him  at  St.  Louis  four  years  ago,  we  knew  he  was 
wise,  we  knew  he  was  brave,  we  knew  he  was  patient,  we  knew  he  would 
be  faithful  and  devoted,  and  we  knew  that  the  greatest  possible  triumphs 
of  peace  would  be  his  ;  but  we  then  little  knew  that  he  would  be  called 
upon  to  encounter  also  the  trials  of  war.  That  unusual  emergency  came. 
It  came  unexpectedly — as  wars  generally  come.  It  came  in  spite  of  all 
he  could  honorably  do  to  avert  it.  It  came  to  find  the  country  unprepared 
for  it,  but  it  found  him  equal  to  all  its  extraordinary  requirements.  And 
it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  in  all  American  history  there  is  no  chap- 
ter more  brilliant  than  that  which  chronicles,  with  him  as  our  commander- 
in-chief,  our  victory  on  land  and  sea.  In  one  hundred  days  we  drove 
Spain  from  the  Western  Hemisphere,  girded  the  earth  with  our  acquisitions 
and  filled  the  world  with  the  splendor  of  our  power. 

The  American  name  has  a  new  and  greater  significance  now.  Our 
flag  has  a  new  glory.  It  not  only  symbolizes  human  liberty  and  political 
equality  at  home,  but  it  means  freedom  and  independence  for  the  long 
suffering  patriots  of  Cuba,  and  complete  protection,  education,  enlighten- 
ment, uplifting  and  ultimate  local  self-government,  and  the  enjoyment  of 
all  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  the  millions  of  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines. 


214  JOSEPH  B.  FORAKER 

What  we  have  so  gloriously  done  for  ourselves  we  propose  most  gener- 
ously to  do  for  them.  We  have  so  declared  in  the  platform  we  have 
adopted.  A  fitting  place  it  is  for  this  party  to  make  such  a  declaration. 
Here  in  this  magnificent  City  of  Philadelphia,  where  the  evidences  so 
abound  of  the  rich  blessings  the  Republican  party  has  brought  to  the 
American  people ;  here  at  the  birthplace  of  the  nation,  where  our  own 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  adopted  and  our  Constitution  formed ; 
where  Washington  and  Jefi'erson  and  Hancockand  John  Adams,  and  their 
illustrious  associates,  wrought  their  immortal  work  ;  here  where  center  so 
many  historic  memories  that  stir  the  blood  and  flush  the  cheek,  and  excite 
the  sentiments  of  human  liberty  and  patriotism,  is  indeed  a  most  fitting 
place  for  the  party  of  I^incoln  and  Grant  and  Garfield  and  Blaine,  the 
party  of  union  and  liberty  for  all  men,  to  formally  dedicate  themselves  to 
this  great  duty. 

We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  its  discharge.  We  could  not  turn  back 
if  we  would,  and  would  not  if  we  could.  We  are  on  trial  before  the 
world,  and  must  triumphantly  meet  our  responsibilities,  or  ignominiously 
fail  in  the  presence  of  mankind. 

These  responsibilities  speak  to  this  convention  here  and  now,  and 
command  us  that  we  choose  to  be  our  candidate  and  the  next  President — 
which  is  one  and  the  same  thing — the  best  fitted  man  for  the  discharge  of 
this  great  duty  in  all  the  Republic. 

On  that  point  there  is  no  difference  of  opinion.  No  man  in  all  the 
nation  is  so  well  qualified  for  this  trust  as  the  great  leader  under  whom  the 
work  has  been  so  far  conducted.  He  has  the  head,  he  has  the  heart,  he 
has  the  special  knowledge  and  the  special  experience  that  qualify  him 
beyond  all  others.  And,  Mr.  Chairman,  he  has  also  the  stainless  reputa- 
tion and  character,  and  has  led  the  blameless  life,  that  endear  him  to  his 
countrymen  and  give  to  him  the  confidence,  the  respect,  the  admiration, 
the  love  and  the  affection  of  the  whole  American  people. 


THOMAS  B.  REED  (1 839-1 902) 

THE  FAMOUS  ''SPEAKERS'  AND  DEBATER 


mN  January,  1890,  Congress  was  treated  to  a  decidedly  new  sensa- 
tion. It  had  long  been  the  custom  to  block  important  busi- 
ness by  declaring  no  quorum,  opposing  members  declining  to 
vote  and  only  those  who  voted  being  counted  as  present.  It  needed 
a  man  of  strength  and  decision  to  combat  this  time-honored  evil,  and 
Thomas  Brackett  Reed,  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  proved  the  man  for 
the  occasion.  On  a  bill  before  the  House  the  Democrats  refused  to 
vote  on  roll  call,  but  Speaker  Reed  solved  the  difficulty  by  counting- 
enough  of  them  as  "  present  but  not  voting  "  to  constitute  a  quorum. 
The  uproar  was  tremendous,  the  Democratic  members  hotly  protesting 
and  declaring  the  proceeding  unconstitutional,  but  Reed  held  coolly  to 
his  point,  and  his  revolutionary  action  was  sustained  by  the  Supreme 
Court  and  became  an  established  rule  of  the  House.  One  result  was 
that  Reed  obtained  the  title  of  the  ''Czar"  of  the  House.  Four  years 
later,  when  a  Democratic  House  found  itself  in  a  similar  dilemma,  it 
escaped  by  adopting  Speal^er  Reed's  rule. 

Reed,  a  native  of  Portland,  Maine,  early  made  himself  highly 
popular  by  his  eloquence  as  a  public  speaker,  and  the  logic,  sarcasm 
and  humor  of  his  speeches.  No  man  was  his  superior  in  repartee, 
and  as  a  debater  he  was  unsurpassed.  He  served  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives for  over  twenty  years,  being  elected  Speaker  in  1889,  and 
again  in  1895  and  1897.  In  1896  he  was  the  choice  of  New  England 
for  the  Presidency,  but  on  the  nomination  of  McKinley  he  supported 
him  by  some  of  the  ablest  speeches  of  the  campaign.  He  resigned  from 
Congress  in  1899  to  enter  upon  the  practice  of  the  law  in  New  York 
City.  Henry  Hall  has  said  of  him  :  "  He  is  in  many  respects  the 
greatest  all-around  man  in  the  United  States  to-day,  of  saintless  record 

215 


216  THOMAS  B.  REED 

and  unimpeachable  integrity,  bold  but  safe,  brilliant  but  wise,  master- 
ful but  heeding  counsel,  and  a  fighter  without  fear." 

GIFTS  TO  LIBERAL  INSTITUTIONS 

[As  an  example  of  Thomas  B.  Reed  at  his  best  in  oratory  we  cannot  do  better 
than  to  offer  a  selection  from  his  address  in  1898,  on  the  semi-centennial  of  Girard 
College,  Philadelphia.  Reed's  method  did  not  usually  reach  this  elevation  in  senti- 
ment and  breadth  of  view,  being  rather  controversial  than  dignified,  and  we  therefore 
present  this  as  showing  the  heights  of  thought  and  lucidity  of  expression  of  which  he 
was  capable.] 

Six  hundred  and  fifty  or  seventy  years  ago,  England,  which,  during 
the  following  period  of  nearly  seven  centuries,  has  been  the  richest  nation 
on  the  face  of  the  globe,  began  to  establish  the  two  universities  which, 
from  the  banks  of  the  Cam  and  the  Isis,  have  sent  forth  great  scholars  and 
priests  and  statesmen,  whose  fame  is  the  history  of  their  own  country, 
and  whose  deeds  have  been  part  of  the  history  of  every  land  and  sea. 
During  all  that  long  period,  reaching  back  two  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
before  it  was  even  dreamed  that  this  great  hemisphere  existed  ;  before  the 
world  knew  that  it  was  swinging  in  the  air  and  rolling  about  the  sun  ; 
kings  and  cardinals,  nobles  and  great  churchmen,  the  learned  and  the 
pious,  began  bestowing  upon  those  abodes  of  scholars  their  gifts  of  land 
and  money ;  and  they  have  continued  their  benefactions  down  to  our 
time.  What  those  universities,  with  all  their  colleges  and  halls  teeming 
with  scholars  for  six  hundred  years,  have  done  for  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion and  the  good  of  men,  this  whole  evening  could  not  begin  to  tell. 
Even  your  imaginations  cannot,  at  this  moment,  create  the  surprising 
picture.  Nevertheless,  the  institution  at  which  most  of  you  are,  or  have 
been,  pupils  is  at  the  beginning  of  a  career  with  which  those  great  univer- 
sities and  their  great  history  may  struggle  in  vain  for  the  palm  of  the 
greatest  usefulness  to  the  race  of  man.  One  single  fact  will  make  it  evi- 
dent that  this  possibility  is  not  the  creation  of  imagination  or  the  product 
of  that  boastfulness  which  America  will  some  day  feel  herself  too  great  to 
cherish,  but  a  simple  and  plain  possibility  which  has  the  sanction  of 
mathematics,  as  well  as  of  hope. 

Although  more  than  six  centuries  of  regal,  princely,  and  pious 
donations  have  been  poured  into  the  purses  of  those  venerable  aids  to 
learning,  the  munificence  of  one  American  citizen  to-day  afibrds  au 
endowment  income  equal  to  that  of  each  university,  and,  when  the  full 
century  has  completed  his  work,  will  afibrd  an  income  superior  to  .the 
income  of  both.  When  Time  has  done  his  perfect  work,  Stephen  Girard, 
mariner  and  merchant,  may  be  found  to  have  come  nearer  immortality 


THOMAS  B.  REED  217 

than  the  long  procession  of  kings  and  cardinals,  nobles  and  statesmen, 
whose  power  was  mighty  in  their  own  days,  but  who  are  only  on  their 
way  to  oblivion.  I  am  well  aware  that  this  college  of  orphans,  wherein 
the  wisdom  of  the  founder  requires  facts  and  things  to  be  taught  rather 
than  words  and  signs,  can  as  yet  make  no  claim  to  that  higher  learning  so 
essential  to  the  ultimate  progress  of  the  world  ;  but  it  has  its  own  mission 
as  great  and  as  high,  and  one  which  connects  itself  more  nearly  with  the 
practical  elevation  of  mankind. 

Whether  the  overruling  Providence,  of  which  we  talk  so  much  and 
know  so  little,  has  each  of  us  in  His  kindly  care  and  keeping,  we  shall 
better  know  when  our  minds  have  the  broader  scope  which  immortality 
will  make  possible.  But,  however  men  may  dispute  over  individual  care, 
His  care  over  the  race  as  a  whole  fills  all  the  pages  of  human  history. 
Unity  and  progress  are  the  watchwords  of  the  Divine  guidance,  and  no 
matter  how  harsh  has  been  the  treatment  by  one  man  of  thousands  of 
men,  every  great  event,  or  series  of  events,  has  been  for  the  good  of  the 
race.  Were  this  the  proper  time,  I  could  show  that  wars — and  wars 
ought  to  be  banished  forever  from  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  that  pestilences 
— and  the  time  is  coming  when  they  will  be  no  more  ;  that  persecutions 
and  inquisitions — and  liberty  of  thought  is  the  richest  pearl  of  life  ;  that 
all  these  things — wars,'  pestilences,  ajid  persecutions — were  but  helps  to 
the  unity  of  mankind.  All  things,' including  our  own  natures,  bind  us 
together  for  deep  and  unrelenting  purposes. 

Think  what  we  should  be,  who  are  unlearned  and  brutish,  if  the 
wise,  the  learned,  and  the  good  could  separate  themselves  from  us  ;  were 
free  from  our  superstitions  and  vague  and  foolish  fears,  and  stood  loftily 
by  themselves,  wrapped  in  their  own  superior  wisdom.  Therefore  hath  it 
been  wisely  ordained  that  no  set  of  creatures  of  our  race  shall  be  beyond 
the  reach  of  their  helping  hand,  so  lofty  that  they  will  not  fear  our 
reproaches,  or  so  mighty  as  to  be  beyond  our  reach.  If  the  lofty  and  the 
learned  do  not  lift  us  up,  we  drag  them  down.  But  unity  is  not  the  only 
watchword ;  there  must  be  progress  also.  Since,  by  a  law  we  cannot 
evade,  we  are  to  keep  together,  and  since  we  are  to  progress,  we  must  do 
it  together,  and  nobody  must  be  left  behind.  This  is  not  a  matter  of 
philosophy  ;  it  is  a  matter  of  fact.  No  progress  which  did  not  lift  all, 
ever  lifted  any.  If  we  let  the  poison  of  filthy  diseases  percolate  through 
the  hovels  of  the  poor,  death  knocks  at  the  palace  gates.  If  we  leave  to 
the  greater  horror  of  ignorance  any  portion  of  our  race,  the  consequences 
of  ignorance  strike  us  all,  and  there  is  no  escape.  We  must  all  move, 
but  we  must  all  keep  together.  It  is  only  when  the  rearguard  comes  up 
that  the  vanguard  can  go  on. 


M^ 


WILLIAM  J.  BRYAN  (I860  —) 

THE  KNIGHT  OF  FREE  SILVER 


IN  the  Democratic  National  Convention  at  Chicago  in  1896,  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  events  in  the  history  of  Conventions 
■^  took  place.  A  young  reformer,  hardly  known  in  the  party, 
not  known  at  all  to  the  country,  rose  before  the  delegates,  and  in  a 
speech  of  the  most  stirring  eloquence  so  carried  them  from  their  feet 
that  they  lost  sight  of  the  claims  of  all  the  old  and  seasoned  leaders 
of  the  party,  and  chose  this  orator  of  thirty-six  as  their  standard- 
bearer  in  the  coming  campaign.  Free  silver  was  a  prominent  plank 
in  their  platform,  and  free  silver  was  the  informing  spirit  of  his  oration. 
It  was  its  closing  words  that  took  the  convention  captive  and  made 
William  Jennings  Bryan  the  inevitable  candidate  of  the  party. 

During  the  month  that  followed  its  delivery  this  speech  was 
perhaps  more  widely  read  and  debated  than  any  other  ever  made  in 
the  United  States.  Who  is  this  new  candidate  for  the  greatest  place 
in  the  gift  of  the  nation?  was  asked.  The  answer  was  that  he  was  a 
native  of  Illinois,  born  in  1860,  who  graduated  at  Illinois  College  in 
1881,  studied  law  in  Chicago,  and  had  since  practiced  in  Illinois  and 
Nebraska.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress  from  1891  to  1895,  was  a 
Democratic  nominee  for  the  Senate  in  1894,  and  was  the  author  of  the 
"  Silver  plank"  in  the  Democratic  platform. 

The  People's  party  nominated  him  on  the  same  basis,  but  he  was 
decisively  defeated  in  the  election,  the  indication  being  that  free  silver 
was  not  w^anted  by  the  majority  of  the  people.  In  the  war  of  1898, 
Bryan  raised  the  Third  Nebraska  Regiment  and  became  its  colonel. 
In  1900  he  again  received  the  nomination  of  the  Democratic  and 
People's  parties,  and  was  once  more  pitted  against  his  old  antagonist, 
William  McKinley.  As  before,  Bryan  '^stumped"  the  country, 
218 


WILLIAM  J.  BRYAN  219 

making  a  large  number  of  effective  speeches,  in  which  the  principles 
and  practices  of  the  party  in  power  were  severely  scored.  But  his 
labors  proved  of  no  avail,  he  was  defeated  by  a  greater  number  of 
electoral  votes  than  before,  and  once  more  retired  to  private  life. 

THE  CROSS  OF  GOLD 

["  Free  Silver,"  we  have  said,  was  the  Democratic  and  Populist  battle-cry  in 
1896,  The  platform  read :  "  We  demand  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  both  silver 
and  gold  at  the  present  legal  ratio  of  16  to  i,  without  waiting  for  the  aid  and  consent 
of  any  other  nation."  This  declaration  of  financial  principles,  penned  by  Bryan,  was 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  Republican  financial  plank,  which  stated:  "We  are 
opposed  to  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  except  by  international  agreement."  Such  was 
the  issue  upon  which  the  campaign  was  fought.  The  speech  with  which  Bryan 
defended  his  side  of  the  argument  was  an  acknowledged  masterpiece.  The  burning 
eloquence,  earnestness,  zeal  and  magnetic  power  of  the  orator  were  irresistible. 
When  the  closing  words  were  spoken  the  great  audience  rose  as  one  man,  and  he  was 
borne  from  the  stage  in  a  burst  of  the  wildest  enthusiasm.  His  plank  in  the  platform 
was  adopted  by  a  large  majority,  and  carried  with  it  his  nomination  for  the  Presi- 
dency.] 

And  now,  my  friends,  let  me  come  to  the  paramount  issue.  If  they 
ask  us  why  it  is  that  we  say  more  on  the  money  question  than  we  say 
upon  the  tarijGf  question,  I  reply  that,  if  protection  has  slain  its  thousands, 
the  gold  standard  has  slain  its  tens  of  thousands.  If  they  ask  us  why  we 
do  not  embody  in  our  platform  all  the  things  that  we  believe  in,  we  reply 
that  when  we  have  restored  the  money  of  the  Constitution  all  other  neces- 
sary reforms  will  be  possible  ;  but  that  until  this  is  done  there  is  no  other 
reform  that  can  be  accomplished. 

Here  is  the  line  of  battle,  and  we  care  not  upon  which  issue  they 
force  the  fight ;  we  are  prepared  to  meet  them  on  either  issue  or  on  both. 
If  they  tell  us  that  the  gold  standard  is  the  standard  of  civilization,  we 
reply  to  them  that  this,  the  most  enlightened  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  has  never  declared  for  a  gold  standard  and  that  both  the  great  par- 
ties this  year  are  declaring  against  it.  If  the  gold  standard  is  the  standard 
of  civilization,  why,  my  friends,  should  we  not  have  it  ?  If  they  come  to 
meet  us  on  that  issue  we  can  present  the  history  of  our  nation.  More 
than  that ;  we  can  tell  them  that  they  will  search  the  pages  of  history  in 
vain  to  find  a  single  instance  where  the  common  people  of  any  land  have 
ever  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  the  gold  standard.  They  can  find 
where  the  holders  of  fixed  investments  have  declared  for  a  gold  standard, 
but  not  where  the  masses  have. 

Mr.  Carlisle  said,  in  1878,  that  this  was  a  struggle  between  "  the  idle 
holders  of  idle  capital  ' '  and  ' '  the  struggling  masses  who  produce  the 


220  WILLIAM  J.  BRYAN 

wealth  and  pay  the  taxes  of  the  country;  "  and,  my  friends,  the  ques- 
tion we  are  to  decide  is  :  Upon  which  side  will  the  Democratic  party 
fight ;  upon  the  side  of  ' '  the  idle  holders  of  idle  capital ' '  or  upon  the 
side  of  *  *  the  struggling  masses  ?  ' '  That  is  the  question  which  the  party 
must  answer  first,  and  then  it  must  be  answered  by  each  individual  here- 
after. The  sympathies  of  the  Democratic  party,  as  shown  by  the  platform, 
are  on  the  side  of  the  struggling  masses  who  have  ever  been  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Democratic  party.  There  are  two  ideas  of  government. 
There  are  those  who  believe  that,  if  you  will  only  legislate  to  make  the 
well-to-do  prosperous,  their  prosperity  will  leak  through  on  those  below. 
The  Democratic  idea,  however,  has  been  that  if  you  legislate  to  make  the 
masses  prosperous,  their  prosperity  will  find  its  way  through  every  class 
which  rests  upon  them. 

You  come  to  us,  and  tell  us,  that  the  great  cities  are  in  favor  of 
the  gold  standard  ;  we  reply  that  the  great  cities  rest  upon  our  broad  and 
fertile  prairies.  Burn  down  your  cities  and  leave  our  farms,  and  your 
cities  will  spring  up  again  as  if  by  magic  ;  but  destroy  our  farms  and  the 
grass  will  grow  in  the  streets  of  every  city  in  the  country. 

My  friends,  we  declare  that  this  nation  is  able  to  legislate  for  its  own 
people  on  every  question,  without  waiting  for  the  aid  or  consent  of  any 
other  nation  on  earth  ;  and  upon  that  issue  we  expect  to  carry  every  State 
in  the  Union.  I  shall  not  slander  the  inhabitants  of  the  fair  State  of 
Massachusetts,  nor  the  inhabitants  of  the  State  of  New  York,  by  saying 
that,  when  they  are  confronted  with  the  proposition,  they  still  declare 
that  this  nation  is  not  able  to  attend  to  its  own  business.  It  is  the  issue 
of  1776  over  again.  Our  ancestors,  when  but  three  millions  in  number, 
had  the  courage  to  declare  their  political  independence  of  every  other 
nation  ;  shall  we,  their  descendants,  when  we  have  grown  to  seventy 
millions,  declare  that  we  are  less  independent  than  our  forefathers  ?  No, 
my  friends,  that  will  never  be  the  verdict  of  our  people.  Therefore,  we 
care  not  upon  what  lines  the  battle  is  fought.  If  they  say  bimetallism  is 
good,  but  that  we  cannot  have  it  until  other  nations  help  us,  we  reply 
that,  instead  of  having  a  gold  standard  because  England  has,  we  will 
restore  bimetallism,  and  then  let  England  have  bimetallism  because  the 
United  States  has  it.  If  they  dare  to  come  out  in  the  open  field  and 
defend  the  gold  standard  as  a  good  thing,  we  will  fight  them  to  the  utter- 
most. Having  behind  us  the  producing  masses  of  this  nation  and  of  the 
world,  supported  by  the  commercial  interests,  the  laboring  interests,  and 
the  toilers  everywhere,  we  will  answer  their  demand  for  a  gold  standard 
by  saying  to  them  :  You  shall  not  press  down  upon  the  brow  of  labor  this 
crown  of  thorns  ;  you  shall  not  crucify  mankind  upon  a  cross  of  gold. 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  (1858^) 

FORCEFUL  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


HUNTER,  Rancher,  Cabinet  Official,  Rough  Rider,  Governor, 
Vice-President  and  President — such  is  the  record  of  Theo- 
— ^  dore  Rooseyelt's  life  within  the  past  two  decades.  Nor  is  this 
the  whole  story.  He  has  been  a  New  York  legislator,  a  candidate  for 
Mayor  of  New  York  City,  a  Civil  Service  Commissioner,  and  the  head 
of  the  New  York  Police  Board.  This  is  a  remarkable  record  for  any 
man  within  so  brief  a  period  ;  but  it  is  the  record  of  a  remarkable 
man,  of  an  American  in  whom  the  principle  of  ''  Americanism  "  has 
reached  an  extraordinary  development.  Sleepless  energy  is  the 
Roosevelt  characteristic.  With  him  rest  fills  only  the  chinks  of  life  ; 
while  there  is  anything  to  be  done  he  is  up  and  doing  it  with  a  vigor 
that  knows  no  obstacles.  Whether  as  a  hunter  on  the  western 
plains  or  in  the  Mississippi  cane-brakes,  a  soldier  in  the  Santiago  cam- 
paign, a  police  commissioner  in  the  slums  of  New  York,  or  President 
of  the  United  States,  his  innate  characteristic  of  strenuous  activity 
displays  itself,  and  if  there  is  anything  which  Theodore  Roosevelt 
cannot  do,  it  is  to  let  anything  pass  him  without  his  having  a  hand 
in  it.  And  with  this  physical  and  mental,  there  goes  the  moral 
activity  which  is  needed  to  make  a  fully-rounded  man.  Honesty  of 
purpose  and  an  elevated  sense  of  public  duty  are  leading  features  in 
his  character.  He  may  make  mistakes ;  his  passion  for  settling 
things  may  lead  him  into  hasty  and  ill-advised  acts  ;  but  that  he 
means  well  in  every  movement  no  one  doubts,  and  his  intelligent 
moral  energy  is  worth  an  ocean  of  policy  and  expediency  which  have 
too  often  marked  the  careers  of  many  leaders  of  public  opinion  in 
America  and  other  countries.  The  true  spirit  of  the  Western  civiliza- 
tion has  one  of  its  fullest  exemplars  in  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

221 


222  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

There  is  much  that  is  remarkable  in  the  recent  story  of  Roosevelt's 
life.  We  find  him,  when  the  Spanish-American  war  broke  out,  resign- 
ing his  position  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  take  part,  as  leader 
of  the  Hough  Riders,  in  the  Santiago  campaign.  The  reputation  for 
unflinching  courage  and  daring  made  there  won  him  the  governor- 
ship of  New  York.  Breaking  here  through  all  the  harness  of  ring 
methods,  he  was  nominated  and  elected  Vice-President  to  get  rid  of 
him,  to  "  shelve''  him  in  the  Senate  chamber.  Destiny  favored  him  ; 
President  McKinley  was  slain  and  he  succeeded  to  the  Presidential 
office.  In  this  elevated  position  he  pledged  himself  to  carry  out  the 
policy  of  the  McKinley  administration.  This  he  has  faithfully  sought 
.  to  do,  but  at  the  same  time  has  developed  a  decided  n^w  policy  of  his 
own,  one  in  which  party  interests  have  no  share,  the  best  good  of  the 
whole  country  being  seemingly  his  overruling  thought.  Of  all  the 
Presidents  Theodore  Roosevelt  promises  to  be  the  hardest  to  control 
by  the  leaders  of  his  party.  Fortunately  he  is  controlled  by  integrity, 
earnestness  and  public  virtue  in  its  highest  sense. 

THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 
«  [lu  addition  to  his  activity  as  an  official,  Theodore  Roosevelt  has  developed 
into  an  orator  of  striking  readiness  and  ability.  He  has  no  hesitation  in  expressing 
himself  openly  on  all  the  subjects  in  which  the  people  of  the  country  are  interested, 
and  all  he  says  has  in  it  the  pith  of  thought  and  judgment.  His  ideal  of  administra- 
tion is  not  of  the  silent  sort.  He  does  not  hesitate  to  take  the  nation  into  his  confi- 
dence. As  for  his  principle  of  action,  it  is  clearly  defined  in  his  work  on  "The 
Strenuous  Life,"  a  book  which  has  aroused  the  widest  interest,  alike  on  account  of 
its  source  and  its  subject.  In  his  address  at  the  Appomattox  Day  celebration  of  the 
Hamilton  Club,  of  Chicago,  April  lo,  1899,  he  expressed  himself  to  the  same  effect. 
We  give  the  more  significant  portion  of  these  suggestive  remarks.] 

Gentlemen  :  In  speaking  to  you,  men  of  the  greatest  city  of  the 
West,  men  of  the  State  which  gave  to  the  country  Lincoln  and  Grant,  men 
^^  who  pre-eminently  aijd  distinctly  embody  all  that  is  most  American  in  the 
American  character;!  wish  to  preach  not  the  doctrine  of  ignoble  ease  but 
\^  the  doctrine  of  the  strenuous  life  ;  the  life  of  toil  and  effort ;  of  labor  and 
strife  ;  to  preach  that  highest  form  of  success  which  comes  not  to  the 
man  who  desires  mere  easy  peace,  but  to  the  man  who  does  not  shrink 
from  danger,  from  hardship,  or  from  bitter  toil,  and  who  out  of  these 
wins  the  splendid  ultimate  triumph. 

A  life  of  ignoble  ease,  a  life  of  that  peace  which  springs  merely  from 
lack  either  of  desire  or  of  power  to  strive  after  great  things,  is  as  little 
worthy   of  a   nation   as  of  an   individual.     I  ask  only  that  what  every 


^ 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  223 

self-respecting  American  demands  from  himself,  airid  from  his  sons,  shall  be 
demanded  of  the  American  nation  as  a  wholef,/  Who  among  you  would 
teach  your  boys  that  ease,  that  peace,  is  to  be  the  first  consideration  in 
your  eyes  ;  to  be  the  ultimate  goal  after  which  they  should  strive  ?  You 
men  of  Chicago  have  made  this  city  great ;  you  men  of  Illinois  have  done 
your  share,  and  more  than  your  share,  in  making  America  great ;  because 
you  neither  preach  nor  practice  such  a  doctrine.  You  work  yourselves, 
and  you  bring  up  your  sons  to  work.  If  you  are  rich,  and  are  v^orth 
your  sale,  you  will  teach  your  sons  that,  though  they  may  have  leisure,  it 
is  not  to  be  spent  in  idleness  ;  for  wisely  used  leisure  merely  means  that 
those  who  possess  it,  being  free  from  the  necessit^r  of  working  for  their 
livelihood,  are  all  the  more  bound  to  carry  on  some  kind  of  non-remunera- 
tive work  in  science,  in  letters,  in  art,  in  exploration,  in  historical 
research — work  of  the  type  we  most  need  in  this  country,  the  successful 
carrying  out  of  which  reflects  most  upon  the  nation. 

We  do  not  admire  the  man  of  timid  peace.  We  admire  the  man  who 
embodies  victorious  effort ;  the  man  who  never  wrongs  his  neighbor  ;  who 
is  prompt  to  help  a  friend,  but  who  has  those  virile  qualities  necessary  to 
win  in  the  stern  strife  of  actual  life.  It  is  hard  to  fail ;  but  it  is  worse 
never  to  have  tried  to  succeed.  In  this  life  we  get  nothing  save  by  effort. 
Freedom  from  effort  in  the  present,  merely  means  that  there  has  beerk 
stored-up  effort  in  the  past.  A  man  can  be  freed  from  the  necessity  of 
work  only^by  the  fact  that  he  or  his  fathers  before  him  have  worked  to 
good  purpose.  If  the  freedom  thus  purchased  is  used  aright,  and  the 
man  still  does  actual  work,  though  of  a  different  kind;  whether  as  a 
writer  or  a  general ;  whether  in  the  field  of  politics  or  in  the  field  of 
exploration  and  adventure  ;  he  shows  that  he  deserves  his  good  fortune. 
But  if  he  treats  this  period  of  freedom  from  the  need  of  actual  labor  as  a 
period  not  of  preparation  but  of  mere  enjoyment,  he  shows  that  he  is  sim- 
ply a  cumberer  of  the  earth's  surface  ;  and  he  surely  unfits  himself  to  hold 
his  own  with  his  fellows  if  the  need  to  do  so  should  again  arise.  A  mere 
life  of  ease  is  not  in  the  end  a  satisfactory  life,  and  above  all  it  is  a  life 
which  ultimately  unfits  those  who  follow  it  for  serious  work  in  the  world. 

As  it  is  with  the  individual,  so  it  is  with  the  nation.  It  is  a  base  un- 
truth to  say  that  happy  is  the  nation  that  has  no  history.  Thrice  happy 
is  the  nation  that  has' a  glorious  history.  Far  better  it  is  to  dare  mighty 
things,  to  win  glorious  triumphs,  even  though  checkered  by  failure,  than 
to  take  rank  with  those  poor  spirits  who  neither  enjoy  much  nor  suffer 
much  because  they  live  in  the  gray  twilight  that  knows  neither  victory 
nor  defeaLJ  If  in  1861  the  men  who  loved  the  Union  had  believed  that 
peace  was  the  end  of  all  things  and  war  and  strife  the  worst  of  all  things,  and 


224  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

had  acted  up  to  their  belief,  we  would  have  saved  hundreds  of  thousands 
/  of  lives  ;  we  would  have  saved  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars.  More- 
;  over,  besides  saving  all  the  blood  and  treasure  we  then  lavished,  we 
would  have  prevented  the  heart-break  of  many  women,  the  desolation  of 
many  homes  ;  and  we  would  have  spared  the  country  those  months  of 
gloom  and  shame  when  it  seemed  as  if  our  armies  marched  only  to  defeat. 
We  could  have  avoided  all  this  suffering  simply  by  shrinking  from  strife. 
And  if  we  had  thus  avoided  it  we  would  have  shown  that  we  were  weak- 
lings and  that  we  were  unfit  to  stand  among  the  great  nations  of  the 
j  earthjf  Thank  God  for  the  iron  in  the  blood  of  our  fathers,  the  men  who 
upheld  the  wisdom  of  Lincoln  and  bore  sword  or  rifle  in  the  armies  of 
Grant !  Let  us,  the  children  of  the  men  who  proved  themselves  equal  to 
the  mighty  days;  let  us,  the  children  of  the  men  who  carried  the  great 
Civil  War  to  a  triumphant  conclusion ;  praise  the  God  of  our  fathers  that 
the  ignoble  counsels  of  peace  were  rejected,  that  the  suffering  and  loss,  the 
blackness  of  sorrow  and  despair,  were  unflinchingly  faced  and  the  years 
of  strife  endured  ;  for  in  the  end  the  slave  was  freed,  the  Union  restored, 
and  the  mighty  American  Republic  placed  once  more  as  a  helmeted  queen 
among  the  nations. 

We  of  this  generation  do  not  have  to  face  a  task  such  as  that  our 
fathers  fe^ed,  but  we  have  our  tasks,  and  woe  to  us  if  we  fail  to  perform 
them  U  We  cannot,  if  we  would,  play  the  part  of  China,  and  be  content 
to  rot  by  inches  in  ignoble  ease  within  our  borders,  taking  no  interest  in 
I  what  goes  on  beyond  them  ;  sunk  in  a  scrambling  commercialism  ;  heed- 
less of  the  higher  life,  the  life  of  aspiration,  toil  and  risk  ;   busying  our- 
selves only  with  the  wants  of  our  bodies  for  the  day  ;    until  suddenly  we 
j  should  find,  beyond  a  shadow  of  question,  what  China  has  already  found, 
1  that  in  this  world  the  nation  that  has  trained  itself  to  a  career  of  unwar- 
like  and  isolated  ease  is  bound  in  the  end  to  go  down  before  other  nations 
which  have  not  lost  the  manly  and  adventurous  qualities ._j  If  we  are  to 
be  a  really  great  people,  we  must  strive  in  good  faith  to  play  a  great  part 
in  the  world.     We  cannot  avoid  meeting  great  issues.     All  that  we  can 
determine  for  ourselves  is  whether  we  shall  meet  them  well  or  ill. 

NATIONAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE 

[New  York  is  the  greatest  port  of  entry  for  the  United  States.  The  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  New  York — an  association  of  the  merchants  who  have  given  that  city  its 
commercial  prominence — is  a  body  whose  influence  is  felt  in  the  industrial  relations  of 
the  entire  people.  On  the  nth  of  November,  1902,  this  association  dedicated  to  its 
purposes  a  new  and  splendid  edifice,  the  ceremony  being  witnessed  by  high  dignitaries 
of  the  nation  and  representatives  of  foreign  governments.  Chief  among  the  partici- 
pants was  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  his  remarks  on  that  occasion  were  so 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  225 

significant  of  his  attitude  towards  nations  abroad  and  his  people  at  home,  that  we~take 
pleasure  in  quoting  from  them.  They  bear  the  same  characteristics  of  earnestness 
and  fairness  that  are  found  in  all  his  utterances.] 


This  body  stands  for  the  triumphs  of  peace  both  abroad  and  at  home. 
We  have  passed  that  stage  of  national  development  when  depreciation  of 
other  peoples  is  felt  as  a  tribute  to  our  own.  We  watch  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  other  nations,  not  with  hatred  or  jealousy,  but  with  sincere 
and  friendly  good  will.  I  think  I  can  say  safely  that  we  have  shown  by 
our  attitude  toward  Cuba,  by  our  attitude  toward  China,  that  as  regards 
weaker  powers  our  desire  is  that  they  may  be  able  to  stand  alone,  and  that 
if  they  will  only  show  themselves  willing  to  deal  honestly  and  fairly  with 
the  rest  of  mankind  we  on  our  side  will  do  all  we  can  to  help,  not  to  hin- 
der them.  With  the  great  powers  of  the  world  we  desire  no  rivalry  that 
is  not  honorable  to  both  parties.  We  wish  them  well.  We  believe  that 
the  trend  of  the  modern  spirit  is  ever  stronger  toward  peace,  not^war; 
toward  friendship,  not  hostility  ;  as  the  normal  international  attitude.]  We 
are  glad,  indeed,  that  we  are  on  good  terms  with  all  the  other  peoples  of 
mankind,  and  no  effort  on  our  part  shall  be  spared  to  secure  a  continuance 
lof.  these  relations.  And  remember,  gentlemen,  that  we  shall  be  a  potent 
factor  for  peace  largely  in  proportion  to  the  way  in  which  we  make  it  evi- 
dent that  our  attitude  is  due,  not  to  weakness,  not  to  inability  to  defend 
ourselves,  but  to  a  genuine  repugnance  to  wrongdoing,  a  genuine  desire 
for  self-respecting  friendship  with  our  neighbors.  The  voice  of  the  weak- 
ling or  the  craven  counts  for  nothing  when  he. clamors  for  peace  ;  but  the 
voice  of  the  just  man  armed  is  potent.  fWe  need  to  keep  In  a  condition 
of  preparedness,  especially  as  regards  our  navy,  not  because  we  want  war ; 
but  because  we  desire  to  stand  with  those  whose  plea  for  peace  is  listened 
__to  with  respectful  attention. 

Important  though  it  is  that  we  should  have  peace  abroad,  it  is  even 
more  important  that  we  should  have  peace  at  home.^jl  You,  men  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  to  whose  efforts  we  owe  so  much  of  our  industrial 
well  being,  can,  and  I  believe  surely  will,  be  influential  in  helping  toward 
that  industrial  peace  which  can  obtain  in  society  only  when  in  their  various 
relations  employer  and  employed  alike  show  not  merely  insistence  each 
upon  his  own  rights,  but  also  regard  for  the  rights  of  others,  and  a  full 
acknowledgment  of  the  interests  of  the  third  party — the  public.  Pit  is  no 
easy  matter  to  work  out  a  system  or  rule  of  conduct,  whether  with  or 
without  the  help  of  the  lawgiver,  which  shall  minimize  that  jarring  and 
clashing  of  interests  in  the  industrial  world  which  causes  so  much  indi- 
vidual irritation  and  suffering  at  the  present  day,  and  which  at  times 
threatens  baleful  consequences  to  large  portions  of  the  body  politic.  But 
16 


226  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

fnthe  importance  of  the  problem  cannot  be  overestimated,  and  it  deserves  to 
(  receive  the  careful  thought  of  all  m,en  such  as  those  whom  I  am  address- 
ing to-night.  There  should  be  no  yielding  to  wrong  ;  but  there  should 
most  certainly  be  not  only  desire  to  do  right,  but  a  willingness  each  to  try 
to  understand  the  viewpoint  of  his  fellow,  with  whom,  for  weal  or  for  woe, 
his  own  fortunes  are  indissolubly  bound. 

No  patent  remedy  can  be  devised  for  the  solution  of  these  grave  pro-, 
blems  in  the  industrial  world,  but  we  may  rest  assured  that  they  can  be 
solved  at  all  only  if  we  bring  to  the  solution  certain  old  time  virtues,  and 
if  we  strive  to  keep  out  of  the  solution  some  of  the  most  familiar  and 
most  undesirable  of  the  traits  to  which  mankind  has  owed  untold  degra- 
dation and  suffering  throughout  the  ages.  Arrogance,  suspicion,  brutal 
envy  of  the  well  to  do,  brutal  indifference  toward  those  who  are  not  well 
to  do,  the  hard  refusal  to  consider  the  rights  of  others,  the  foolish  refusal 
to  consider  the  limits  of  beneficent  action,  the  base  appeal  to  the  spirit 
of  selfish  greed,  whether  it  take  the  form  of  plunder  of  the  fortunate  or 
of  oppression  of  the  unfortunate — from  these  and  from  all  kindred  vices 
this  nation  must  be  kept  free  if  it  is  to  remain  in  its  present  position  in 
the  forefront  of  the  peoples  of  mankind .\  On  the  other  hand,  good  will 
come  even  out  of  the  present  evilsrif  we'  face  them  armed  with  the  old 
homely  virtues  ;  if  we  show  that  we  are  fearless  of  soul,  cool  of  head 
and  kindly  of  heart ;  if,  without  betraying  the  weakness  that  cringes 
before  wrong-doing,  we  yet  show  by  deeds  and  words  our  knowledge 
that  in  such  a  government  as  ours  each  of  us  must  be  in  very  truth  his 

brother's  keeper 

r  The  first  requisite  of  a  good  citizen  in  this  Republic  of  ours  is  that  he 
snail  be  able  and  willing  to  pull  his  weight — that  he  shall  not  be  a  mere 
passenger,  but  shall  do  his  share  in  the  work  that  each  generation  of  us 
finds  ready  to  hand ;  and,  furthermore,  that  in  doing  his  work  he  shall 
show  not  only  the  capacity  for  sturdy  self-help,  but  also  self-respecting 
regard  for  the  rights  of  others^ I 


BOOK  V^ 

The  Distinguished  Orators  of  Canada 

THE  finer  examples  of  oratory  In  the  American 
countries  have  been  confined  to  those  inhab- 
ited by  EngHsh-speaking  peoples.  No  citizen 
of  the  Spanish-American  republics  seems  to  have 
won  a  world-wide  reputation  in  this  art.  Though 
many  of  them  may  have  breathed  *'  words  that  burn," 
their  thoughts  have  not  flamed  high  enough  to  be 
visible  afar.  In  our  selections,  therefore,  we  are 
confined  to  the  two  commonwealths,  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  While  the  history  of  the  former  has 
been  marked  by  great  exigencies  that-  called  forth 
noble  efforts  of  oratorical  art,  the  same  may  be  said 
of  the  latter.  The  history  of  the  Dominion,  indeed, 
has  been  wrought  out  with  no  such  mighty  conflicts 
as  that  of  the  slavery  question,  leading  to  civil  war ; 
but  it  has  not  passed  without  its  conflicts,  internal 
and  external ;  its  strenuous  struggles,  which  were 
none  the  less  vital  from  being  confined  to  parliamen- 
tary halls,  were  fought  out  by  able  statesmen  and 
orators  instead  of  by  the  heroes  of  the  tented  field. 
Canada  has  its  Union  as  has  the  United  States,  and 
it  has  had  to  withstand  provincial  feeling  and  threats 
of  secession.  It  has  had  its  bitterness  of  racial  jeal- 
ousy, its  insurrectionary  outbreaks,  its  religious  heart- 
burnings, its  struggle  between  British  and  American 
tendencies  and  influences.  Fortunately,  the  voice  of 
the  orator,  the  wise  counsel  of  the  statesman,  have 
healed  these  dissensions  without  recourse  to  harsher 
measures.  An  author  of  the  Dominion  says  :  ''Can- 
ada only  needs  to  be  known  in  order  to  be  great," 
and  foremost  among  those  who  have  helped  to  make 
her  great  are  her  orators. 

227 


JOSEPH  HOWE  (1 804- J 873) 

THE  BRILLIANT  ORATOR  OF  NOVA  SCX)TIA 


EOR  many  years  the  maritime  province  of  Nova  Scotia  was  the 
abiding  place  of  an  orator  of  striking  ability  and  power.  Of 
Joseph  Howe  it  is  justly  said,  ^'  None  could  touch  him  in 
eloquence,  logic  of  argument,  force  of  invective,  or  brilliancy  of 
rhetoric,  and  it  is  a  question  if  the  Dominion  has  ever  produced  his 
equal  in  these  respects."  His  powers  were  most  effectively  shown  in 
the  merciless  invective  with  which  he  assailed  Sir  Colin  Campbell 
and  Lord  Falkland,  two  Governors  of  arbitrary  methods — fairly  driv- 
ing them  from  the  province.  In  1863,  after  long  legislative  service, 
Howe  was  made  Premier  of  Nova  Scotia.  In  the  subsequent  Dominion 
confederation  he  led  a  movement  of  secession  on  the  part  of  Nova 
Scotia,  whose  people  claimed  that  they  had  been  carried  'into  the 
Union  by  a  trick  and  had  been  given  no  opportunity  to  vote  on  the 
act  of  Union.  A  compromise,  by  which  Nova  Scotia  benefited,  settled 
the  difficulty,  and  Howe  afterward  sat  in  the  Dominion  Parliament. 
In  1873,  the  year  of  his  death,  he  was  made  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
Nova  Scotia. 

CANADA  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES 

[As  a  favorable  example  of  Howe's  oratorical  powers — not  of  the  sarcasm  and 
invective  in  which  he  excelled — we  append  the  following  eloquent  extract,  in  which 
is  clearly  shown  the  essential  unity  of  race  and  purpose  between  the  Dominion  of 
Canada  and  the  United  States.] 

We  are  here  to  determine  how  best  we  can  draw  together,  in  the 
bonds  of  peace,  friendship  and  commercial  prosperity,  the  three  great 
branches  of  the  British  family.  In  the  presence  of  this  great  theme  all 
petty  interests  should  stand  rebuked.  We  are  not  dealing  with  the  con- 
cerns of  a  city,  a  province  or  a  state,  but  with  the  future  of  our  race  in  all 
time  to  come. 
228 


JOSEPH    JEFFERSON   ACTOR    AND    ORATOR 


Winkle."  from  Washington  Irving's  GreatSto^y.  ^^  ^^" 


JOSEPH  HOWE  229 

Why  should  not  these  three  great  branches  of  the  family  flourish, 
under  different  systems  of  government  it  may  be,  but  forming  one  grand 
whole,  proud  of  a  common  origin  and  of  their  advanced  civilization  ? 
The  clover  lifts  its  trefoil  leaves  to  the  evening  dew,  yet  they  draw  their 
nourishment  from  a  single  stem.  Thus  distinct,  and  yet  united,  let  us 
live  and  flourish.  Why  should  we  not  ?  For  nearly  two  thousand  years 
we  were  one  family.  Our  fathers  fought  side  by  side  at  Hastings,  and 
heard  the  curfew  toll.  They  fought  in  the  same  ranks  for  the  sepulchre 
of  our  Saviour.  In  the  earlier  and  later  civil  wars,  we  can  wear  our  white 
and  red  roses  without  a  blush,  and  glory  in  the  principles  those  conflicts 
established.  Our  common  ancestors  won  the  great  Charter  and  the  Bill 
of  Rights;  established  free  Parliaments,  the  Habeas  Corpus,  and  Trial  by 
Jury.  Our  Jurisprudence  comes  down  from  Coke  and  Mansfield  to  Mar- 
shall and  Story,  rich  in  knowledge  and  experience  which  no  man  can 
divide.  From  Chaucer  to  Shakespeare  our  literature  is  a  common  inheri- 
tance. Tennyson  and  Longfellow  write  in  one  language,  which  is  enriched 
by  the  genius  developed  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic.  In  the  great  nav- 
igators from  Cortereal  to  Hudson,  and  in  all  their  '^  moving  accidents  by 
flood  and  field,"  we  have  a  common  interest. 

On  this  side  of  the  sea  we  have  been  largely  reinforced  both  by  the 
Germans  and  French  ;  there  is  strength  in  both  elements.  The  Germans 
gave  to  us  the  sovereigns  who  established  our  freedom,  and  they  give  to 
you  industry,  intelligence  and  thrift ;  and  the  French,  who  have  distin- 
guished themselves  in  arts  and  arms  for  centuries,  now  strengthen  the 
Provinces  which  the  fortune  of  war  decided  they  could  not  control. 

But  it  may  be  said  we  have  been  divided  by  two  wars.  What  then  ? 
The  noble  St.  Lawrence  is  split  in  two  places — by  Goat  Island  and  Anti- 
costi — ^but  it  comes  down  to  us  from  the  same  springs  in  the  same  moun- 
tain sides  ;  its  waters  sweep  together  past  the  pictured  rocks  of  Lake 
Superior,  and  encircle  in  their  loving  embrace  the  shores  of  Huron  and 
Michigan.  They  are  divided  at  Niagara  Falls  as  we  were  at  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  but  they  come  together  again  on  the  peaceful  bosom  of 
Ontario.  Again  they  are  divided  on  their  passage  to  the  sea;  but  who 
thinks  of  divisions  when  they  lift  the  keels  of  commerce,  or  when,  drawn 
up  to  heaven,  they  form  the  rainbow  or  the  cloud?  ....  I  see  around 
the  door  the  flags  of  the  two  countries.  United  as  they  are  there,  I 
would  have  them  draped  together,  fold  within  fold,  and  let 

* '  Their  varying  tints  unite, 

And  form  in  Heaven's  light, 

One  arch  of  peace. ' ' 


SIR  JOHN  A.  MACDONALD  (J8J5-I89I) 

THE  *' PERPETUAL  PREMIERS'  OF  THE  DOMINION 


NO  other  man  has  played  so  great  a  part  in  Canada  as  Sir  John 
Alexander  Macdonald,  in  a  measure  before  and  notably  since 
-^  the  confederation  of  its  provinces.  It  was  the  leading  pur- 
pose of  his  life  to  found  on  the  vast  Canadian  domain  a  mighty  and 
powerful  state,  by  the  union  of  its  peoples  and  provinces,  and  this 
union  he  succeeded  in  accomplishing.  From  1844  to  the  end  of  his 
career  he  was  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  Canadian  Assembly 
and  the  Dominion  Parliament.  The  united  Canada  of  to-day  is  very 
largely  the  fruit  of  his  labors.  The  first  government  for  the  new 
Dominion  was  formed  by  him  in  1867,  and  from  that  time  until  his 
death,  with  only  a  five  years'  intermission,  he  retained  the  premier- 
ship. Another  of  the  great  services  which  Canada  owes  to  him  is  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  one  of  the  most  magnificent  engineering 
enterprises  on  the  continent,  which  runs  through  some  of  the  grandest 
scenery  in  the  \vorld,  and  which  has  aided  w^onderfully  in  cementing 
into  one  the  far-separated  members  of  the  Dominion  confederacy. 

THE  TREATY  OF  WASHINGTON 

[The  treaty  of  Washington,  concluded  in  1871,  was  the  greatest  diplomatic 
event  in  Macdonald 's  career.  By  it  were  settled  the  questions  of  the  fisheries  and 
various  other  subjects  of  acrimonious  debate  between  the  Dominion  and  the  United 
States.  In  this  Macdonald  had  to  fight  his  way  not  alone  against  the  Washington 
diplomats,  but  also  against  his  British  colleagues,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
he  obtained  a  treaty  at  all.  On  his  return  to  Canada  he  was  received  as  John  Jay  was 
in  the  United  States  after  the  treaty  of  1794.  Men  called  him  a  Judas  Iscariot  and 
Benedict  Arnold  in  one,  and  years  passed  before  he  received  the  credit  he  had  well 
earned  by  his  judicious  and  patriotic  efforts.  His  speech  before  the  Canadian  Parlia- 
ment on  this  subject  was  the  most  eloquent  ever  heard  from  his  lips.  We  give  an 
extract  from  the  peroration  of  this  able  address.] 
230 


SIR  JOHN  MACDONALD  231 

I  shall  now  move  the  first  reading  of  this  bill,  and  I  shall  simply  sum 
up  my  remarks  by  sajdng  that  with  respect  to  the  treaty  I  consider  that 
every  portion  of  it  is  unobjectionable  to  the  country,  unless  the  articles 
connected  with  the  fisheries  may  be  considered  objectionable.  With 
respect  to  those  articles,  I  ask  this  House  fully  and  calmly  to  consider 
the  circumstances,  and  I  believe,  if  they  fully  consider  the  situation,  that 
they  will  say  it  is  for  the  good  of  Canada  that  those  articles  should  be 
ratified.  Reject  the  treaty,  and  you  do  not  get  reciprocity ;  reject  the 
treaty,  and  you  leave  the  fishermen  of  the  Maritime  Provinces  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Americans  ;  reject  the  treaty,  and  you  will  leave  the  mer- 
chants engaged  in  that  trade  off  from  the  American  market :  reject  the 
treaty,  and  you  will  have  a  large  annual  expenditure  in  keeping  up  a 
marine  police  force  to  protect  those  fisheries,  amounting  to  about  $84,000 
per  annum  ;  reject  the  treaty,  and  you  will  have  to  call  upon  England  to 
send  her  fleet  and  give  you  both  her  moral  and  physical  support,  although 
you  will  not  adopt  her  policy  ;  reject  the  treaty,  and  you  will  find  that 
the  bad  feeling  which  formerly  and  until  lately  existed  in  the  United 
States  against  England  will  be  transferred  to  Canada ;  that  the  United 
States  will  say,  and  say  justly:  "Here,  where  two  great  nations  like 
England  and  the  United  States  have  settled  all  their  differences  and  all 
their  quarrels  upon  a  perpetual  basis,  these  happy  results  are  to  be  frus- 
trated and  endangered  by  the  Canadian  people,  because  they  have  not  got 
the  value  of  their  fish  for  ten  years." 

It  has  been  said  by  the  honorable  gentleman  on  my  left  (Mr.  Howe) , 
in  his  speech  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  that  England 
had  sacrificed  the  interests  of  Canada.  If  England  has  sacrificed  the 
interests  of  Canada,  what  sacrifice  has  she  not  made  in  the  cause  of  peace  ? 
Has  she  not,  for  the  sake  of  peace  between  these  two  great  nations,  ren- 
dered herself  liable,  leaving  out  all  indirect  claims,  to  pay  millions  out  of 
her  own  treasury  ?  Has  she  not  made  all  this  sacrifice,  which  only  Eng- 
lishmen and  English  statesmen  know,  for  the  sake  of  peace — and  for 
whose  sake  has  she  made  it  ?  Has  she  not  made  it  principally  for  the 
sake  of  Canada  ?  Let  Canada  be  severed  from  England,  let  England  not 
be  responsible  to  us,  and  for  us,  and  what  could  the  United  States  do  to 
England  ?  Let  England  withdraw  herself  into  her  shell,  and  what  can  the 
United  States  do  ?  England  has  got  the  supremacy  of  the  sea — she  is 
impregnable  in  every  point  but  one,  and  that  point  is  Canada ;  and  if 
England  does  call  on  us  to  make  a  financial  sacrifice  ;  does  find  it  for  the 
good  of  the  empire  that  we,  England's  first  colony,  should  sacrifice  some- 
thing ;  I  say  that  we  would  be  unworthy  of  our  proud  position  if  we  were 
not  prepared  to  do  so. 


232  SIR  JOHN  MACDONALD 

I  hope  to  live  to  see  the  day,  and  if  I  do  not  that  my  son  may  be 
spared  to  see  Canada  the  right  arm  of  England,  to  see  Canada  a  powerful 
auxiliary  to  the  empire, — not  as  now  a  cause  of  anxiety  and  a  source  of 
danger.  And  I  think  that  if  we  are  worthy  to  hold  that  position  as  the 
right  arm  of  England,  we  should  not  object  to  a  sacrifice  of  this  kind 
when  so  great  an  object  is  attained,  and  the  object  is  a  great  and  lasting 
one.  It  is  said  that  amities  between  nations  cannot  be  perpetual ;  but  I 
say  that  this  treaty,  which  has  gone  through  so  many  difl&culties  and  dan- 
gers, if  it  is  carried  into  effect,  removes  almost  all  possibility  of  war.  If 
ever  there  was  an  irritating  cause  of  war,  it  was  from  the  occurrences  aris- 
ing out  of  the  escape  of  those  vessels,  and  when  we  see  the  United  States 
people  and  Government  forget  this  irritation,  forget  those  occurrences, 
and  submit  such  a  question  to  arbitration,  to  the  arbitration  of  a  disin- 
terested tribunal,  they  have  established  a  principle  which  can  never  be 
forgotten  in  this  world.  No  future  question  is  ever  likely  to  arise  that 
will  cause  such  irritation  as  the  escape  of  the  Alabama  did,  and  if  they 
could  be  got  to  agree  to  leave  such  a  matter  to  the  peaceful  arbitrament  of 
a  friendly  power,  what  future  cause  ot  quarrel  can,  in  the  imagination  of 
man,  occur  that  will  not  bear  the  same  pacific  solution  that  is  sought  for 
in  this  ?  I  believe  that  this  treaty  is  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  that  it  will  set  an  example  to  the  wide  world  that  must  be  followed  ; 
and  with  the  growth  of  the  great  Anglo-Saxon  family,  and  with  the 
development  of  that  mighty  nation  to  the  south  of  us,  I  believe  that  the 
principle  of  arbitration  will  be  advocated  and  adopted  as  the  sole  princi- 
ple of  settlement  of  differences  between  the  English-speaking  peoples,  and 
that  it  will  have  a  moral  influence  on  the  world. 


GEORGE  BROWN  (J8t84880) 

JOURNALIST,  STATESMAN  AND  DIPLOMAT 


DIKE  many  of  the  Canadian  leaders,  George  Brown  was  born  on 
the  island  of  Great  Britain,  Edinburgh  being  his  natal  home. 
He  became  a  journalist  in  New  York  in  1838,  and  from  there 
drifted  to  Canada,  where,  in  1844,  he  founded  the  Toronto  Globe.  Of 
this  he  remained  the  proprietor  until  his  death,  which  was  due  to  a 
wound  received  from  a  discharged  employee  of  the  paper.  Brown's 
legislative  career  began  in  the  Parliament  of  Upper  Canada,  of  which 
for  a  short  time  in  1857  he  was  the  premier.  In  1873  he  was  elected 
to  the  Dominion  Senate,  and  in  the  following  year  served  at  Wash- 
ington as  a  plenipotentiary  from  Canada.  Politically  he  was  one  of 
the  principal  leaders  of  the  Reform  or  Liberal  party,  whose  principles 
he  advocated  with  voice  and  pen. 

THE  GREATNESS  AND  DESTINY  OF  CANADA 

[Hopkins's  **  Story  of  the  Dominion  "  in  speaking  of  the  conference  of  the 
"Fathers  of  Confederation  "  at  Quebec,  in  1864,  tells  us  that  "  George  Brown,  the 
energetic,  forceful  personality,  the  honest  lover  of  his  country,  the  bitter  antagonist 
of  French  or  Catholic  supremacy  in  its  affairs,  was  present  with  a  sincere  desire  to 
advance  the  cause  of  union  which,  for  some  years,  he  had  been  most  earnestly  advo- 
cating." We  give  the  forceful  peroration  of  his  speech  before  the  Canadian  Parlia- 
ment on  this  important  subject.] 

One  hundred  years  have  passed  away  since  the  conquest  of  Quebec, 
but  here  we  sit,  the  children  of  the  victor  and  the  vanquished,  all  avow- 
ing hearty  attachment  to  the  British  Crown,  all  earnestly  deliberating  how 
we  shall  best  extend  the  blessings  of  British  institutions  ;  how  a  great 
people  may  be  established  on  this  continent,  in  close  and  hearty  connec- 
tion with  Great  Britain.  Where,  sir,  in  the  page  of  history,  shall  we  find 
a  parallel  to  this  ?  Will  it  not  stand  as  an  imperishable  monument  to  the 
generosity  of  British  rule  ?     And  it  is  not  in  Canada  alone  that  this  scene 

233 


234  GEORGE  BROWN 

has  been  witnessed.  Four  other  colonies  are  at  this  moment  occupied  as 
we  are — declaring  their  hearty  love  for  the  parent  State,  and  deliberating 
with  us  how  they  may  best  discharge  the  great  duty  entrusted  to  their 
hands,  and  give  their  aid  in  developing  the  teeming  resources  of  these  vast 
possessions. 

And  well,  Mr.  Speaker,  may  the  work  we  have  unitedly  proposed 
rouse  the  ambition  and  energy  of  every  true  man  in  British  America. 
Look,  sir,  at  the  map  of  the  continent  of  America.  Newfoundland,  com- 
manding the  mouth  of  the  noble  river  that  almost  cuts  our  continent  in 
twain,  is  equal  in  extent  to  the  Kingdom  of  Portugal.  Cross  the  straits 
to  the  mainland,  and  you  touch  the  hospitable  shores  of  Nova  Scotia,  a 
country  as  large  as  the  Kingdom  of  Greece.  Then  mark  the  sister  Prov- 
ince of  New  Brunswick — equal  to  Denmark  and  Switzerland  combined. 
Pass  up  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Lower  Canada — a  country  as  large  as  France. 
Pass  on  to  Upper  Canada — twenty  thousand  square  miles  larger  than 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  put  together.  Cross  over  the  continent  to  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific,  and  you  are  in  British  Columbia,  the  land  of  golden 
promise — equal  in  ektent  to  the  Austrian  Empire.  I  speak  not  now  of 
the  vast  Indian  territories  that  lie  between,  greater  in  extent  than  the 
whole  soil  of  Russia  ;  and  that  will,  ere  long,  I  trust,  be  opened  up  to 
civilization,  under  the  auspices  of  the  British  American  Confederation. 
Well,  sir,  the  bold  scheme  in  your  hands  is  nothing  less  than  to  gather  all 
these  countries  into  one ;  to  organize  them  under  one  government,  with 
the  protection  of  the  British  flag,  and  in  heartiest  sympathy  and  affection 
with  our  fellow-subjects  in  the  land  that  gave  us  birth.  Our  scheme  is  to 
establish  a  government  that  will  seek  to  turn  the  tide  of  emigration  into 
this  northern  half  of  the  American  continent  ;  that  wilL  strive  to  develop 
its  great  national  resources,  and  that  will  endeavor  to  maintain  liberty, 
and  justice,  and  Christianity  throughout  the  land. 

What  we  propose  now  is  but  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  structure, 
to  set  in  motion  the  governmental  machinery  that  will,  one  day,  we  trust, 
extend  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  And  we  take  especial  credit  to 
ourselves  that  the  system  we  have  devised,  while  admirably  adapted  to  our 
present  situation,  is  capable  of  gradual  and  efficient  expansion  in  future 
years  to  meet  all  the  purposes  contemplated  by  our  scheme.  But  if  hon- 
orable gentlemen  will  recall  to  mind  that  when  the  United  States  seceded 
from  the  mother  country,  and  for  many  years  afterwards,  their  population 
was  not  nearly  equal  to  ours  at  the  present  moment,  that  their  internal 
improvements  did  not  then  approach  to  what  we  have  already  attained, 
and  that  their  trade  and  commerce  was  not  a  third  of  what  ours  has 
already  reached,  I  think  they  will  see  that  the  fulfilment  of  our  hopes  may 


GEORGE  BROWN  235 

not  be  so  very  remote  as  at  first  sight  might  be  imagined.  And  they-will 
be  strengthened  in  that  conviction,  if  they  remember  that  what  we  propose 
to  do  IS  to  be  done  with  the  cordial  sympathy  and  assistance  of  that  great 
Power  of  which  it  is  our  happiness  to  form  a  part.  And  said  I  not 
rightly,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  such  a  scheme  is  well  fitted  to  fire  the  ambition 
and  rouse  the  energy  of  every  member  of  this  House  ?  Does  it  not  lift 
us  above  the  petty  politics  of  the  past,  and  present  to  us  high  purposes 
and  great  interests,  that  may  well  call  forth  all  the  intellectual  ability,  and 
all  the  energy  and  enterprise  to  be  found  among  us  ? 

Sir,  the  future  destiny  of  these  great  Provinces  may  be  affected,  by 
the  decision  we  are  about  to  give,  to  an  extent  which  at  this  moment  we 
may  be  unable  to  estimate.  But  assuredly  the  welfare,  for  many  years, 
of  four  millions  of  people  hangs  on  our  decision.  Shall  we  then  rise 
equal  to  the  occasion  ?  Shall  we  approach  this  discussion  without  partisan- 
ship, and  free  from  every  personal  feeling  but  the  earnest  resolution  to 
discharge,  conscientiously,  the  duty  which  an  overruling  Providence  has 
placed  upon  us  ?  Sir,  it  may  be  that  some  among  us  may  live  to  see  the 
day  when,  as  the  result  of  this  measure,  a  great  and  powerful  people  shall 
have  grown  up  in  these  lands  ;  when  the  boundless  forest  all  around  us 
shall  have  given  way  to  smiling  fields  and  thriving  towns,  and  when  one 
united  government,  under  the  British  flag,  shall  extend  from  shore  to 
shore  ;  but  who  could  desire  to  see  that  day,  if  he  could  not  recall  with 
satisfaction  the  part  he  took  in  this  discussion?  Mr.  Speaker,  I  have 
done.  Heave  the  subject  to  the  conscientious  judgment  of  the  House,  in 
the  confident  expectation  and  belief  that  the  decision  it  will  render  will  be 
worthy  of  the  Parliament  of  Canada. 


NICHOLAS  FLOOD  DAVIN  (J 8434 90 J) 

EDITOR,  AUTHOR  AND  ORATOR 


elCHOLAS  F.  DAVIN,  connected  in  his  later  years  with  the 
journalism  of  Assiniboia,  owed  his  birth  to  Ireland,  while  his 
early  career,  as  a  lawyer  and  journalist,  was  spent  in  London. 
During  the  Franco-German  War  he  served  as  war  correspondent  for 
the  Irish  Times  and  the  London  Standard.  Seeking  Canada,  he  was 
called  to  the  Ontario  bar  in  1874,  and  later  to  that  of  the  Northwest 
province,  being  created  Queen's  Counsel  by  the  Earl  of  Derby  in 
1890.  In  1893,  he  established  at  Regina  the  Leader,  the  pioneer 
newspaper  of  Assiniboia.  His  powers  as  an  orator  made  him  promi- 
nent in  political  life,  and  from  1887  to  1890  he  represented  Assini- 
boia in  the  Dominion  House  of  Commons,  being  noted  as  one  of  the 
most  scholarly  men  in  that  body. 

THE  BRITISH  COLONIAL  EMPIRE 
[In  1897,  during  the  Queen's  Diamond  Jubilee  celebration,  Mr.  Davin  repre- 
sented Canada  at  the  meeting  held  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in  honor  of  that  event, 
and  delivered  ttere  an  eloquent  address,  suited  to  the  occasion.     A  selection  follows.] 

This  is  a  magnificent  festival  ;  but,  contrary  to  the  rule,  it  is  greater 
relatively  than  absolutely.  Grand  as  it  is,  its  grandeur  is  enhanced  when 
we  think  that  at  this  moment,  not  merely  in  London  is  the  Empire's 
Queen  gathering  her  children  around  her,  but  in  great  cities  in  all  lands  ; 
in  a  land  like  this,  which  no  British  heart  can  heartily  call  foreign — for  what 
is  this  great  Republic  but  one  of  the  lion's  whelps  grown  to  lionhood 
and  for  distinction's  sake  growing  a  pair  of  wings,  and  calling  itself  a  lion 
of  the  air  ;  and,  as  we  know  from  a  hundred  battlefields,  when  we  look  at 
your  literature  and  see  your  extraordinary  power  and  commercial  activity, 
we  conclude  that,  although  you  may  be  an  eagle  in  the  air,  after  all  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  the  British  lion  about  you.  In  great  cities  and  capitals, 
under  the  southern  cross,  under  northern  auroral  lights,  in  the  eye  of  the 
236 


I 


I||:holA5  flood  myinI 


5IRJ0HNAMACD0NALD 


SIR  WILFRID  LAUl 


DISTINGUISHED  CANADIAN  ORATORS 

These  are  representative  orators  of  the  igth  and  20th  Centuries, 
V    distinguished  both  for  Parliamentary  debates  and  popular  dis- 
cussions of  great  national  questions. 


SIR  JOHN  THOMPSON 


NICHOLAS  FLOOD  DAVIN  237 

lean  white  bear,  in  the  light  of  the  midnight  sun,  under  torrid  skies  every- 
where in  the  civilized  world — nay,  in  its  uncivilized  corners  also — wherever 
British  energy  and  pluck,  fortitude  and  indomitable  tenacity  have  carried 
British  commerce  and  arms — and  where  have  they  not? — everywhere  in 
the  civilized  world  the  same  feast  is  held ;  in  city  and  jungle ;  on  mountain 
and  plain  ;  in  lonely  remote  deserts,  or  in  far-off  isles  and  seas.  There  ts 
no  clime  so  inhospitable,  there  is  no  tract  so  dangerous,  no  isle  so  little,  no 
sea  so  lone,  but  over  tower  and  turret  and  dome,  over  scud  and  sand  and 
palm  tree,  at  this  hour,  the  flag  bearing  the  three  crosses  of  the  three  great 
nations  of  the  two  heroic  isles  rises  with  solemn  splendor  and  sublime  signi- 
ficance ;  where  it  is  day  the  winds  of  heaven  reverently  caress  its  immortal 
folds,  and  where  it  is  night  the  stars  salute  it  as  a  fellow  star 

Macaulay,  led  away  by  a  love  for  effect,  pictured  a  traveler  from  New 
Zealand  sitting  on  a  broken  arch  of  St.  Paul's  ;  and  the  great  Daniel  Web- 
ster in  one  of  his  addresses  reflected  that  if  England  should  pass  into 
decay,  the  great  Republic  which  was  her  child,  born  in  storm  and  bitter- 
ness and  fated  to  greatness,  would  preserve  her  memory,  her  arts,  her 
language,  her  love  of  freedom.  England's  time  cannot  come  unless  her 
Empire's  time  should  come.  Where  is  the  nation,  or  combination  of 
nations,  which  could  meet  this  world-wide  Empire  united  to  fight  ? 
Instead  of  the  New  Zealander  sketching  the  ruins  of  St.  Paul's,  we 
should  have  the  Maori  swelling  the  Imperial  army.  The  men  living  in 
the  two  heroic  isles  show  no  decay,  and  as  for  their  colonial  children  and 
brethren,  our  Toronto  Highlanders  beat  the  regulars  the  other  day.  In 
earlier  hours  of  danger  we  sent  the  looth  regiment  to  the  Imperial  camp. 
We  guided  the  Imperial  troops  up  the  Nile.  Australia  sent  her  sons  to 
fight,  and  had  arranged  for  her  own  naval  contingent.  South  Africa  has 
followed  suit.     What  I  see  is  more  and  fuller  life  everywhere. 

It  may  be  that  we  shall  see  despotism  and  tyranny  and  barbarism, 
civilized  only  in  the  art  of  war,  combined  against  this  Empire  with  its 
fifty  millions  of  English-speaking  men  and  millions  of  loyal  subject  races. 
It  may  be  that  we  may  have  to  face  an  Armageddon  in  which  the  oceans 
and  seas  of  the  round  world  will  be  purple  with  blood  and  flame,  and  it 
may  be  that  this  is  not  beyond  the  bounds  of  possibility — it  may  be  we 
should  succumb.  If  so,  we  would,  to  use  language  which  my  gallant 
friend  and  his  marines  and  bluejackets  will  understand,  we  should  fall  as 
they  fall  and  die  as  our  fathers  died,  with  the  jack  still  floating  nailed  to 
the  mast,  leaving  a  name  without  a  parallel  and  which  never  could  have  a 
parallel.  Much  more  likely  we  should  send  tyranny  skulking  to  its  hold, 
cooped  up  in  narrower  bounds,  and  make  the  three-crossed  flag  still  more 
the  world's  flag  of  ireedom.  All  the  signs  are  signs  of  life  ;  of  expanding 
material,  moral  and  spiritual  power.  This  Empire  will  go  forward, 
becoming  greater  in  power  and  a  still  greater  blessing  to  mankind. 


SIR  CHARLES  TUPPER  (I82J  - 

A  DISTINGUISHED  DOMINION  STATESMAN 


AMONG  the  statesmen  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  Sir  Charles 
Tupper  has  long  held  a  foremost  place.  Born,  the  son  of  a 
— ^  Baptist  minister,  at  Amhurst,  Nova  Scotia,  he  studied  medi- 
cine, and  for  years  practiced  as  a  physician.  Entering  the  field  of 
politics  in  1855,  his  powers  as  an  orator  and  his  statesmanlike  ability 
soon  gave  him  high  standing,  he  becoming  Premier  of  his  native 
province  in  1864,  President  of  the  Privy  Council  in  1870,  and  for 
years  afterward  holding  various  ministries  in  the  Macdonald  Cabinet. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  was  High  Commissioner  for  Canada  in  Eng- 
land, and  in  April,  1896,  he  became  Conservative  Premier  of  the 
Dominion.  His  term  of  office  was  a  brief  one.  In  the  general  elec- 
tion that  followed  the  Liberals  won,  and  Sir  Wilfred  Laurier  succeeded 
as  Premier. 

ON  THE  PROTECTION  OF  THE  FISHERIES 

[As  a  strenuous  and  aggressive  orator,  of  excellent  powers  of  logical  argument, 
Sir  Charles  Tupper  won  popular  favor  and  has  long  been  much  esteemed.  The  selec- 
tion here  given  is  from  a  speech  made  by  him  in  the  House  of  Commons,  Ottawa, 
May  12,  1887,  in  the  protection  of  the  Fisheries,  which  was  at  that  time  a  matter 
of  controversy  between  Canada  and  the  United  States.  After  introducing  the  sub- 
ject, he  continued  as  follows.] 

I  had  the  honor  of  being  sent  on  a  confidential  mission  to  Washing- 
ton by  the  Governor- General  previous  to  assuming  my  duties  in  England 
in  1884,  and  had  a  long  and  interesting  conversation  with  the  late  Secre- 
tary Frelinghuysen  on  that  subject.  I  may  say  I  regard  it  is  a  misfortune 
that  the  administration  of  which  he  was  a  member  was  not  returned  to 
power,  and  that  his  life  had  not  been  spared  to  carry  out  what  I  am  certain 
he  was  prepared  to  carry  out.  The  result  was  that  a  Democratic  President 
was  elected  in  the  United  States,  and  a  Democratic  administration  was 
238 


i 


SIR  CHARLES  TUPPER  239 

framed  ;  but  that  administration  had  not,  as  the  honoraole  gentlemen  know, 
a  majority  in  the  Senate  ;  and  although  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  in  good  faith  carried  out  the  engagement  with  the  Government  of 
Canada,  and  sent  down  a  proposal  to  dispose  of  this  matter  by  an  inter- 
national commission,  their  proposal  was  rejected  by  the  Senate.  It  was 
for  that  reason,  and  not  because  I  wish  to  express  any  preference  for  one 
party  or  the  other  in  the  United  States,  that  I  said  I  think  it  was  a  mis- 
fortune that  the  recommendation  of  the  Democratic  President  and  Gov- 
ernment had  to  be  acted  upon  by  a  Republican  Senate. 

That  proposal  was  rejected,  and  Canada  was  forced,  as  you  know,  ex 
necessitate  ret,  to  adopt  the  policy  of  temperately  and  judiciously,  but 
firmly,  protecting  the  rights  of  Canadian  fisherman  in  Canadian  waters ; 
and  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  state  that  during  my  term  of  ofl&ce  as  High 
Commissioner  in  London,  where  I  had  constant  and  frequent  intercourse 
with  the  great  statesmen  of  both  of  the  political  parties  in  that  country 
in  relation  to  this  question, — whatever  party  was  in  power,  or  whatever 
might  be  representing  the  Government — I  met  the  firm  and  unqualified 
desire,  on  the  part  of  Her  Majesty's  Government,  to  study  carefully  what 
were  the  undoubted  rights  of  Canada  and  the  Empire ;  and  I  speak  of  the 
Governments  which  represented  both  the  great  parties  in  England,  when 
I  say  I  found  on  their  part  the  steady  and  uniform  desire  and  determi- 
nation firmly  to  maintain  Canada  in  the  assertion  of  her  just  and  legitimate 
rights. 

I  believe  that,  anxious  as  are  Her  Majesty's  Government — and  every- 
body knows  how  extremely  anxious  they  are  to  avoid  the  slightest  cause 
of  difference  with  the  United  States — the  time  is  far  distant  when  the  Gov- 
ernment of  England  will  shrink  in  the  slightest  degree  from  giving  fair 
and  candid  consideration  to  whatever  are  the  just  claims  of  Canada  in 
relation  to  that  question. 

Under  these  circumstances  I  think  we  had  a  right  to  expect  from  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  a  different  course  to  that  which  they  pur- 
sued. When  the  President  of  the  United  States  sent  this  appeal  to  Con- 
gress for  an  international  commission,  what  did  the  people  interested  in 
the  fisheries  say  ?  They  said,  "  We  do  not  want  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  Canadian  waters ;  we  want  no  international  commission.  The  fish 
have  all  turned  south  ;  they  are  coming  into  our  waters  ;  we  do  not  require 
to  go  into  Canadian  waters  at  all ;  we  want  no  commission,  no  interna- 
tional arrangement,  but  simply  to  keep  ourselves  to  ourselves,  and  let  the 
Canadians  do  the  same."  I  think  that  is  very  much  to  be  regretted.  I 
think  the  interests  of  that  great  country  and  the  interests  of  Canada  alike 
require  close  commercial  relations  and  extended  reciprocal  relations.     I 


240  SIR  CHARLES  TUPPER 

have  no  hesitation  in  saying  so.  It  would  be,  in  my  judgment,  a  great 
misfortune  if  anything  were  to  prevent  reciprocal  trade  arrangements  with 
the  United  States,  which  would  be,  as  they  were  when  they  existed  before, 
alike  beneficial  to  both  countries.  We  know  we  were  satisfied  with  reci- 
procity, but  we  do  not  conceal  from  ourselves,  because  the  statistics  of  our 
own  country  prove  it  beyond  question,  that,  advantageous  as  was  the 
Reciprocity  Treaty  from  1854,  for  twelve  years,  to  the  people  of  Canada,  it 
was  infinitely  more  advantageous  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  But 
as  I  say,  we  were  met  by  the  proposal  to  arm  the  President  with  the  power 
of  declaring  non- intercourse.  I  do  not  believe  he  will  put  that  power  into 
force,  and  I  am  strengthened  in  this  belief  by  the  letter  which  the  President 
of  the  United  States  addressed  to  the  parties  who  communicated  with 
him  on  the  subject,  and  which  showed  that  that  gentleman,  armed  with 
this  tremendous  power,  fully  recognized  the  enormous  interests  that  had 
grown  up  under  that  peaceful  intercourse  between  Canada  and  the  United 
States,  and  that  he  was  fully  alive  to  that  momentous  responsibility  that 

would  rest  upon  his  shoulders  if  he  should  put  it  in  operation 

That  is  the  solitary  cloud  now  upon  the  horizon,  but  it  is  not  without 
its  silver  lining.  Non -intercourse  would  not  be  an  unmixed  evil.  I 
would  deeply  deplore  it.  Every  member  of  the  House,  and  every  intelli- 
gent Canadian,  would  deeply  deplore  any  interruption  of  the  commercial 
relations  which  exist  between  this  country  and  the  United  States  ;  but  I 
cannot  forget  that,  if  this  policy  of  non-intercourse  were  adopted,  it  would 
lead  to  the  development  of  the  channels  of  communication  between  our- 
selves ;  and  that  the  commerce  of  Canada,  which  is  to-day  building  up 
New  York,  Boston  and  Portland,  would  be  carried  through  exclusively 
Canadian  channels  to  Canadian  ports,  and  would  build  up  Montreal,  Que- 
bec, St.  John  and  Halifax  with  a  rapidity  which  the  people  of  this  coun- 
try can  scarcely  understand.  So,  looking  at  this  question  in  all  its  bearings, 
while  I  most  earnestly  hope  that  no  such  policy  will  be  adopted  ;  while  I 
have  not  the  slightest  idea  that  it  will ;  I  say  that  should  it  be  adopted, 
great  as  is  the  American  Republic,  enormous  as  is  their  population,  they 
will  find  that  Canada  feels  that  she  has  as  great  and  as  valuable  a  portion 
of  this  North  American  continent  under  her  management  and  control 
and  to  be  developed  as  that  lying  to  the  south  of  us  ;  and  they  will  find 
the  people  of  this  country  an  united  land  of  patriots,  who,  sinking  every 
other  consideration,  will  say  they  owe  it  to  their  country,  they  owe  it  to 
themselves,  to  show  that  there  will  be  no  faltering  in  maintaining  to  the 
utmost  the  undoubted  and  admitted  rights  that  belong  to  the  people  of 
Canada. 


GOLDWIN  SMITH  (t823 ) 

THE  DISTINGUISHED  LECTURER  AND  WRITER 


[OLDWIN  SMITH  has  dwelt  and  made  his  mark  in  three  separ- 
ate soils.  Born  in  England  and  educated  at  Oxford,  he  was 
made  Professor  of  Modern  History  at  that  university  in  1858. 
Coming  to  the  United  States  in  1864,  he  was  for  four  years  Professor 
of  English  History  at  Cornell  University.  His  life  in  Canada  began 
in  1871.  Here  he  made  his  home  in  Toronto,  engaged  in  editorial 
work,  authorship  and  lecturing.  As  a  lecturer  Smith  ranks  high 
among  modern  speakers,  evincing  much  breadth  and  depth  of  thought 
and  felicity  in  expression.  He  was  in  England  an  advanced  Liberal 
in  politics,  and  a  champion  of  the  American  Union  during  the  Civil 
War.  In  addition  to  his  productions  as  an  orator,  his  written  works 
are  numerous  and  valuable. 

GOD  IN  THE  UNIVERSE 

[Goldwiu  Smith  is  not  among  those  who  think  that  science  has  probed  to  the 
bottom  the  mystery  of  things.  Ambitious  as  are  its  efforts,  and  far  and  deep  as  it  has 
reached,  it  still  stands  only  on  the  threshold  of  the  secret  of  time  and  space,  with  the 
creative  Deity  looming  in  impenetrable  vastness  beyond  its  ken.  Such  is  the  text  of 
the  extract  we  select  from  his  eloquent  and  suggestive  address  delivered  at  Oxford 
on  the  Study  of  History.] 

What  is  the  sum  of  physical  science  ?  Compared  with  the  compre- 
hensible universe  and  with  conceivable  time,  not  to  speak  of  infinity  and 
eternity,  it  is  the  observation  of  a  mere  point,  the  experience  of  an  instant. 
Are  we  warranted  in  founding  anything  upon  such  data,  except  that 
which  we  are  obliged  to  found  on  them,  the  daily  rules  and  processes 
necessary  for  the  material  life  of  man  ?  We  call  the  discoveries  of  science 
sublime  ;  and  truly.  But  the  sublimity  belongs  not  to  that  which  they 
reveal,  but  to  that  which  they  suggest.  And  that  which  they  suggest  is, 
that  through  this  material  glory  and  beauty,  of  which  we  see  a  little  and 
16  241 


242  GOLDWIN  SMITH 

imagine  more,  there  speaks  to  us  a  Being  whose  nature  is  akin  to  ours, 
and  who  has  made  our  hearts  capable  of  such  converse.  Astronomy  has 
its  practical  uses,  without  which  man's  intellect  would  scarcely  rouse 
itself  to  those  speculations ;  but  its  greatest  result  is  a  revelation  of 
immensity  pervaded  by  one  informing  mind  ;  and  this  revelation  is  made 
by  astronomy  only  in  the  same  sense  in  which  the  telescope  reveals  the 
stars  to  the  eye  of  the  astronomer.  Science  finds  no  law  for  the  thoughts 
which,  with  her  aid,  are  ministered  to  man  by  the  starry  skies.  Science 
can  explain  the  hues  of  sunset,  but  she  cannot  tell  from  what  urns  of  pain 
and  pleasure  its  pensiveness  is  poured.  These  things  are  felt  by  all  men, 
felt  the  more  in  proportion  as  the  mind  is  higher.  They  are  a  part  of 
human  nature  ;  and  why  should  they  not  be  as  sound  a  basis  for  philosophy ' 
as  any  other  part  ?  But  if  they  are,  the  solid  wall  of  material  law  melts 
away,  and  through  the  whole  order  of  the  material  world  pours  the  influ- 
ence, the  personal  influence,  of  a  spirit  corresponding  to  our  own. 

Again,  is  it  true  that  the  fixed  or  unvarying  is  the  last  revelation  of 
science  ?  These  risings  in  the  scale  of  created  beings,  this  gradual  evolu- 
tion of  planetary  systems  from  their  centre,  do  they  bespeak  mere  creative 
force  ?  Do  they  not  rather  bespeak  something  which,  for  want  of  an  ade- 
quate word,  we  must  call  creative  efibrt,  corresponding  to  the  effort  by 
which  man  raises  himself  and  his  estate  ?  And  where  effort  can  be  discov- 
ered, does  not  spirit  reign  again  ? 

A  creature  whose  sphere  of  vision  is  a  speck,  whose  experience  is  a 
second,  sees  the  pencil  of  Raphael  moving  over  the  canvas  of  the  Trans- 
figuration. It  sees  the  pencil  moving  over  its  own  speck,  during  its  own 
second  of  existence,  in  one  particular  direction,  and  it  concludes  that  the 
formula  expressing  that  direction  is  the  secret  of  the  whole. 

There  is  truth  as  well  as  vigor  in  the  lines  of  Pope  on  the  discoveries 
of  Newton : 

**  Superior  beings,  when  of  late  they  saw 
A  mortal  man  unfold  all  Nature's  law. 
Admired  such  wisdom  in  an  earthly  shape, 
And  showed  a  Newton  as  we  show  an  ape." 

If  they  could  not  show  a  Newton  as  we  show  an  ape,  or  a  Newton's 
discoveries  as  we  show  the  feats  of  apish  cunning,  it  was  because  Newton 
was  not  a  mere  intellectual  power,  but  a  moral  being,  laboring  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  kind,  and  because  his  discoveries  were  the  reward,  not  of 
sagacity  only,  but  of  virtue.  We  can  imagine  a  mere  organ  of  vision  so 
constructed  by  Omnipotence  as  to  see  at  a  glance  infinitely  more  than 
could  be  discovered  by  all  the  Ne\^^tons,  but  the  animal  which  possessed 
that  organ  would  not  be  higher  than  the  moral  being. 


GOLDWIN  SMITH  243 

Reason,  no  doubt,  is  our  appointed  guide  to  truth.  The  limits  set  to 
it  by  each  dogmatist,  at  the  point  where  it  comes  into  conflict  with  his 
dogma,  are  human  limits  ;  the  providential  limits  we  can  learn  only  by 
dutifully  exerting  it  to  the  utmost.  Yet  reason  must  be  impartial  in  the 
acceptance  of  data  and  in  the  demand  of  proof.  Facts  are  not  the  less 
facts  because  they  are  not  facts  of  sense ;  materialism  is  not  necessa- 
rily enlightenment ;  it  is  possible  to  be  at  once  chimerical  and  gross. 

We  may  venture,  without  any  ingratitude  to  science  as  the  source  of 
material  benefits  and  the  training  school  of  inductive  reason,  to  doubt 
whether  the  great  secret  of  the  moral  world  is  likely  to  be  discovered  in 
her  laboratory,  or  to  be  revealed  to  those  minds  which  have  been  imbued 
only  with  her  thoughts,  and  trained  in  her  processes  alone.  Some, 
indeed,  among  the  men  of  science  who  have  given  us  sweeping  theories  of 
the  world,  seem  to  be  not  only  one-sided  in  their  view  of  the  facts,  leav- 
ing out  of  sight  the  phenomena  of  our  moral  nature,  but  to  want  one  of 
the  two  faculties  necessary  for  sound  investigation.  They  are  acute 
observers,  but  bad  reasoners.  And  science  must  not  expect  to  be  exempt 
from  the  rules  of  reasoning.  We  cannot  give  credit  for  evidence  which 
does  not  exist,  because  if  it  existed  it  would  be  of  a  scientific  kind  ;  nor 
can  we  pass  at  a  bound  from  slight  and  precarious  premises  to  a  tre- 
mendous conclusion ,  because  the  conclusion  would  annihilate  the  spiritual 
nature  and  annul  the  divine  origip  of  man. 


SIR  WILFRID  LAURIER  (1 84 1 

THE  GREAT  LIBERAL  REFORMER 


mHE  Dominion  of  Canada,  as  is  well  known,  has  a  population 
made  up  of  two  distinct  races,  the  French  and  the  British, 
representing  to-day  the  successive  ownership  of  that  great 
area.  Though  these  are  amalgamated  to  a  considerable  extent,  their 
original  diversity  has  by  no  means  disappeared,  the  French  stratum 
of  the  population  retaining  its  old  language  and  many  of  its  old  ideas. 
In  1896  the  Canadian  French  became  more,  intimately  affiliated  with 
the  Government  than  ever  before,  when  Wilfrid  Laurier,  a  statesman 
of  their  race,  was  appointed  to  the  high  dignity  of  Premier  of  the 
Dominion,  the  first  of  his  people  to  hold  that  position.  He  was 
invested  with  the  honor  of  knighthood  in  the  following  year.  For 
many  years  the  Conservative  party  had  been  predominant  in  Canada. 
With  Laurier  the  Liberals  came  into  power,  after  a  long  interregnum. 
They  could  not  have  done  so  under  an  abler  leader  than  Sir  Wilfrid, 
who  is  considered  by  many  as  the  ablest  orator  Canada  has  ever  known, 
and  is  distinguished  "  not  more  by  the  finished  grace  of  his  oratory 
than  by  the  boldness  and  authority  with  which  he  handled  the  deep- 
est political  problems  "  in  the  Dominion  House  of  Commons.  He 
designates  himself  "  A  Liberal  of  the  English  school,  a  pupil  of 
Charles  James  Fox,  Daniel  O'Connell,  and  William  Ewart  Gladstone." 

GLADSTONE'S  ELEMENTS  OF  GREATNESS 
[Laurier's  political  orations  are  numerous,  and  many  of  them  evince  great  abil- 
ity.    We  append  from  these  an  example  of  his  powers  as  a  political  orator, but  we 
give  in  precedence  his  eulogy  of  Gladstone,  as  one  of  the  most  appreciative,  strikinjg^ 
and  brilliant  estimates  of  the  character  of  the  great  English  statesman.] 

The  last  half  century  in  which  we  live  has  produced  many  able  and 

strong  men,  who,  in  different  walks  of  life,  have  attracted  the  attention 

244 


SIR  WILFRID  LAURIER  245 

of  the  world  at  large;  but  of  the  men  who  have  illustrated  this  age,  it 
seems  to  me  that  in  the  eyes  of  posterity  four  will  outlive  and  outshine 
all  others — Cavour,  Lincoln,  Bismarck,  and  Gladstone.  If  we  look  sim- 
ply at  the  magnitude  of  the  results  obtained,  compared  with  the  exiguity 
of  the  resources  at  command;  if  we  remember  that  out  of  the  small  king- 
dom of  Sardinia  grew  United  Italy,  we  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
Count  Cavour  was  undoubtedly  a  statesman  of  marvelous  skill  and  pre- 
science. Abraham  Lincoln,  unknown  to  fame  when  he  was  elected  to 
the  presidency,  exhibited  a  power  for  the  government  of  men  which  has 
scarcely  been  surpassed  in  any  age.  He  saved  the  American  Union,  he 
enfranchised  the  black  race,  and  for  the  task  he  had  to  perform  he  was 
endowed  in  some  respects  almost  miraculously.  No  man  ever  displayed  a 
greater  insight  into  the  motives,  the  complex  motives,  which  shape  the 
public  opinion  of  a  free  country,  and  he  possessed  almost  to  the  degree  of 
an  instinct  the  supreme  quality  in  a  statesman  of  taking  the  right  deci- 
sion, taking  it  at  the  right  moment,  and  expressing  it  in  language  of  incom- 
parable felicity.  Prince  Bismarck  was  the  embodiment  of  resolute  common 
sense,  unflinching  determination,  relentless  strength,  moving  onward  to 
his  end,  and  crushing  everything  in  his  way  as  unconcernedly  as  fate 
itself.  Mr.  Gladstone  undoubtedly  excelled  every  one  of  these  men.  He 
had  in  his  person  a  combination  of  varied  powers  of  the  human  intellect 
rarely  to  be  found  in  one  single  individual.  He  had  the  imaginative 
fancy,  the  poetic  conception  of  things,  in  which  Count  Cavour  was  defi- 
cient. He  had  the  aptitude  for  business,  the  financial  ability,  which  Lin- 
coln never  exhibited.  He  had  the  lofty  impulses,  the  generous  inspira- 
tions, which  Prince  Bismarck  always  discarded,  even  if  he  did  not  treat 
them  with  scorn.  He  was  at  once  an  orator,  a  statesman,  a  poet,  and  a 
man  of  business. 

As  an  orator  he  stands  certainly  in  the  very  front  rank  of  orators  of 
his  country  or  any  country,  of  his  age  or  any  age.  I  remember  when 
Louis  Blanc  was  in  England,  in  the  days  of  the  Second  Empire,  he  used 
to  write  to  the  press  of  Paris,  and  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Le  Temps  he 
stated  that  Mr.  Gladstone  would  undoubtedly  have  been  the  foremost  ora- 
tor of  England  if  it  were  not  for  the  existence  of  Mr.  Bright.  It  may  be 
admitted,  and  I  think  it  is  admitted  generally,  that  on  some  occasions  Mr. 
Bright  reached  heights  of  grandeur  and  pathos  which  even  Mr.  Gladstone 
did  not  attain.  But  Mr.  Gladstone  had  an  ability,  a  vigor,  a  fluency 
which  no  man  in  his  age,  or  any  age,  ever  rivaled,  or  even  approached. 
That  is  not  all.  To  his  marvelous  mental  powers  he  added  no  less  mar- 
velous physical  gifts.     He  had  the  eye  of  a  god  ;  the  voice  of  a  silver 

bell ;  and  the  very  fire  of  his  eye,  the  very  music  of  his  voice,  swept  the 

1 

i 


246  SIR  WILFRID  LAURIER 

hearts  of  men  even  before  they  had  been  dazzled  by  the  torrents  of  his 

eloquence 

In  a  character  so  complex  and  diversified  one  may  be  asked  what  was 
the  dominant  feature,  what  was  the  supreme  quality,  the  one  characteristic 
which  marked  the  nature  of  the  man.  Was  it  his  incomparable  genius  for 
finance  ?  Was  it  his  splendid  oratorical  powers  ?  Was  it  his  marvelous 
fecundity  of  mind  ?  In  my  estimation  it  was  not  any  one  of  those  quali- 
ties. Great  as  they  were,  there  was  one  still  more  marked  ;  and,  if  I  have 
to  give  my  own  impression,  I  would  say  that  the  one  trait  which  was 
dominant  in  his  nature,  which  marked  the  man  more  distinctly  than  any 
other,  was  his  intense  humanity,  his  paramount  sense  of  right,  his  abhor- 
rence of  injustice,  wrong,  and  oppression  wherever  to  be  found,  or  in 
whatever  shape  they  might  show  themselves.  Injustice,  wrong,  oppres- 
sion, acted  upon  him,  as  it  were,  mechanically,  and  aroused  every  fibre  of 
his  bemg,  and,  from  that  moment,  to  the  repairing  of  the  injustice,  the 
undoing  of  the  wrong,  and  the  destruction  of  the  oppression,  he  gave  his 
mind,  his  heart,  his  soul,  his  whole  life,  with  an  energy,  with  an  intensity, 
with  a  vigor  paralleled  in  no  man  unless  it  be  the  First  Napoleon. 

RIEL  AND  THE  GOVERNMENT 
[In  the  Dominion  House  of  Commons  in  the  early  months  of  1886  an  acri- 
monious debate  took  place,  in  which  Mr.  Laurier  and  Mr.  Blake  took  the  ground  that 
in  the  execution  for  treason  of  I^ouis  Kiel,  the  half  breed  insurgent,  the  Government 
was  seriously  culpable,  having  knowingly  and  deliberately  goaded  the  half-breeds  to 
desperation  and  revolt.  Sir  John  Thompson  and  others  as  vigorously  defended  the  11 
Government  in  its  action.  Mr.  Laurier's  speech  on  this  subject,  delivered  March  16,  || 
1886,  is  looked  upon  by  many  as  his  best  effort  and  the  finest  oration  ever  heard  in 
Canadian  Parliament.     We  give  its  opening  and  closing  passages.] 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Since  no  one  on  the  other  side  of  the  House  has  the 
courage  to  continue  this  debate,  I  will  do  so  myself.     The  Minister  of 
Public  Works  stated  the  Government  were  ready  and  anxious  to  discuss 
this  question  ;  and  is  this  an  evidence  of  the  courage  they  pretend  to  pos- 
sess ?     Sir,  in  all  that  has  been  said  so  far,  and  that  has  fallen  from  the  j 
lips  of  honorable  gentlemen  opposite,  there  is  one  thing  in  which  we  can  ' 
all  agree,  and  one  thing  only — we  can  all  agree  in  the  tribute  which  was 
paid  to  the  volunteers  by  the  Minister  of  Public  Works  when  he  entered 
into  a  defence  of  the  Government.     The  volunteers  had  a  most  painful 
duty  to  perform,  and  they  performed  it  in  a  most  creditable  manner  to  j 
themselves  and  the  country.     Under  the  uniform  of  a  soldier  there  is  gen- 
erally to  be  found  a  warm  and  merciful  heart.     Moreover,  our  soldiers  are 
citizens  who  have  an  interest  in  this  country  ;  but  when  they  are  on  duty 
they  know  nothing  but  duty.     At  the  same  time  it  can  fairly  be  presumed 


SIR  WILFRID  LAURIER  247 

that  when  on  duty  the  heart  feels  and  the  mind  thinks ;  and  it  may  be 
fairly  presumed  that  those  who  were  on  duty  in  the  Northwest  last  spring 
thought  and  felt  as  a  great  soldier,  a  great  king,  King  Henry  IV.  of 
France,  thought  and  felt  when  engaged  in  battle  for  many  years  of  his 
life,  in  fighting  his  rebellious  subjects.  Whenever  his  sword  inflicted  a 
wound  he  used  these  words  : 

♦*  The  king  strikes  thee,  God  heal  thee." 

It  may  be  presumed  that  perhaps  our  soldiers,  when  fighting  the 
rebellion,  were  almost  animated  by  a  similar  spirit,  and  prayed  to  God  that 
he  would  heal  the  wounds  that  it  was  their  duty  to  inflict,  and  that  no 
more  blood  should  be  shed  than  the  blood  shed  by  themselves.  The  Gov- 
ernment, however,  thought  otherwise.  The  Government  thought  that  the 
blood  shed  by  the  soldiers  was  not  sufficient,  but  that  another  life  must 
be  sacrificed.  We  heard  the  Minister  of  Public  Works  attempting  to 
defend  the  conduct  of  the  Government,  and  stating  that  its  action  in  this 
matter  was  a  stern  necessity  which  duty  to  our  Queen  and  duty  to  our 
country  made  inevitable.  Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  yet  to  learn — and  I  have 
not  learned  it  from  anything  that  has  fallen  from  the  lips  of  gentlemen 
opposite — that  duty  to  Queen  and  country  may  ever  prevent  the  exercise 
of  that  prerogative  of  mercy  which  is  the  noblest  prerogative  of  the  Crown. 
The  language  of  the  honorable  gentleman  was  not  the  first  occasion  when 
responsible  or  irresponsible  advisers  of  the  Crown  attempted  to  delude  the 
public,  and  perhaps  themselves  as  well,  into  the  belief  that  duty  to  Queen 
and  country  required  blood,  when  mercy  was  a  possible  alternative. 

When  Admiral  Byng  was  sentenced  to  be  shot  for  no  other  crime  than 
that  of  being  unfortunate  in  battle,  there  were  men  at  the  time  who  said 
to  the  King  that  the  interests  of  the  country  required  that  the  sentence 
should  be  carried  out ;  though  the  court,  which  had  convicted  him,  strongly 
recommended  him  to  mercy.  Those  evil  counsels  prevailed,  and  the  sen- 
tence was  carried  out ;  but  the  verdict  of  history,  the  verdict  of  posterity 
— posterity  to  which  honorable  gentlemen  now  appeal — has  declared  long 
ago  that  the  carrying  out  of  the  sentence  against  Admiral  Byng  was  a* 
judicial  murder.  And  I  venture  to  predict,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  the  verdict 
of  history  will  be  the  same  in  this  instance.  In  every  instance  in  which  a 
Government  has  carried  out  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law,  when  mercy 
was  suggested  instead,  the  verdict  has  been  the  same.  Sir,  in  the  province 
to  which  I  belong,  and  especially  amongst  the  race  to  which  I  belong,  the 
execution  of  Louis  Riel  has  been  universally  condemned  as  being  the  sac- 
rifice of  a  life,  not  to  inexorable  justice,  but  to  bitter  passion  and 
revenge. 


248  SIR  WILFRID  LAURIER 

Indeed  the  Government  have  convinced  all  the  people  here  mentioned, 
the  half-breeds,  the  Indians,  the  white  settlers,  that  their  arm  is  long  and 
strong,  and  that  they  are  powerful  to  punish.  Would  to  Heaven  that  they 
had  taken  as  much  pains  to  convince  them  all,  half-breeds,  Indians  and 
white  settlers,  of  their  desire  and  willingness  to  do  them  justice,  to  treat 
them  fairly.  Had  they  taken  as  much  pains  to  do  right,  as  they  have 
taken  to  punish  wrong,  they  never  would  have  had  any  occasion  to  con- 
vince those  people  that  the  law  cannot  be  violated  with  impunity,  because 
the  law  would  never  have  been  violated  at  all. 

But  to-day,  not  to  speak  of  those  who  have  lost  their  lives,  our 
prisons  are  full  of  men  who,  despairing  ever  to  get  justice  by  peace, 
sought  to  obtain  it  by  war ;  who,  despairing  of  ever  being  treated 
like  freemen,  took  their  lives  in  their  hands,  rather  than  be  treated  as 
slaves.  They  have  suffered  a  great  deal,  they  are  suffering  still ;  yet 
their  sacrifices  will  not  be  without  reward.  Their  leader  is  in  the  grave  ; 
they  are  in  durance  ;  but  from  their  prisons  they  can  see  that  that  justice, 
that  liberty  which  they  sought  in  vain,  and  for  which  they  fought  not  in 
vain,  has  at  last  dawned  upon  their  country.  Their  fate  well  illustrates 
the  truth  of  Byron's  invocation  to  liberty,  in  the  introduction  to  the  *'  Pris- 
oner of  Chillon  "  : 

Eternal  Spirit  of  the  chainless  mind  ! 
Brightest  in  dungeons,  Liberty  thou  art ! 
For  there  thy  habitation  is  the  heart — 
The  heart  which  love  to  thee  alone  can  bind  ; 
And  when  thy  sons  to  fetters  are  consigned — 
To  fetters  and  the  damp  vault's  dayless  gloom, 
Their  country  conquers  with  their  martyrdom. 


SIR  JOHN  THOMPSON  (18444894) 

A  NOVA  SCOTIAN  PREMIER  AND  ORATOR 


SIR  JOHN  THOMPSON,  a  native  of  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  began 
his  political  career  in  1877,  in  the  legislature  of  that  province. 
'  Subsequently  entering  the  Dominion  Parliament,  he  became 
a  prominent  and  active  Conservative  member  of  that  body.  An 
earnest  and  able  orator,  and  a  statesman  of  excellent  powers,  he  won  a 
position  of  leadership  in  his  party,  and  in  1892  was  called  upon  to 
form  a  Cabinet,  and  accept  the  post  of  Prime  Minister  of  Canada. 
He  died  two  years  later,  at  Windsor,  while  on  a  visit  to  England. 

§  THE  EXECUTION  OF  RIEL 

Hk  [On  March  22,  1886,  Thompson  made  a  long  and  able  speech  before  the  House 

^^K  Commons,  in  response  to  those  of  Laurier  and  Blake  on  the  subject  of  the  execu- 
^™lon  of  Louis  Riel,  the  half-breed  leader  of  insurrection.  As  a  favorable  example  of 
his  manner  we  append  some  passages  from  this  speech.] 

Let  me  call  the  attention  of  the  House  to  one  point  with  regard  to 
the  fairness  of  the  trial  which  strikes  me  as  absolutely  conclusive.  That 
is,  that  if  there  had  been  an  unfair  ruling  in  that  trial  from  beginning  to 
end,  either  on  the  application  to  postpone,  or  on  a  question  of  evidence, 
or  on  any  part  of  the  judge's  charge,  it  would  have  been  laid  open  by  the 
prisoner's  counsel  on  their  appeal  to  the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench  in  Mani- 
toba. The  prisoner  had  an  advantage  which  no  man  has  who  is  tried  in 
the  older  Provinces.  He  had  a  right  to  appeal  to  a  Bench  of  judges  sit- 
ting in  another  Province,  far  removed  from  the  agitation  in  his  own  coun- 
try, an  appeal  on  every  question  of  the  law  and  fact  involved. 

Every  lawyer  knows  that  a  prisoner  in  the  Provinces  has  only  these 
chances  of  appeal ;  he  has  his  chance  of  a  writ  of  error,  to  bring  up 
defects  shown  by  the  record,  and  as  regards  any  objections  to  the  evidence 
or  to  the  rulings  of  the  judge,  the  judge  may  himself  decide  whether  he 
shall  have  an  appeal  or  not.     Louis  Riel  was  not  in  that  position.     He 

249 


250  SIR  JOHN  THOMPSON 

had  the  right  to  bring  before  the  Bench  in  Manitoba  every  question  of 
the  law  or  fact  that  arose  on  his  trial ,  and  when  he  took  that  appeal,  he 
was  represented  by  the  best  counsel,  I  suppose,  that  this  Dominion  could 
have  given  him,  and  yet  not  a  single  exception  was  taken  to  the  fairness- 
of  the  trial,  or  the  rulings  of  the  judge.     The  prisoner  took  this  addi- 
tional step,  which  is  a  verj^  rare  one  in  connection  with  the  criminal  jus- 
tice in  this  country  ;  he  applied  to  Her  Majesty  to  exercise  the  prerogative 
by  which  Her  Majesty,  by  the  advice  of  Her  Privy  Council,   is  able  toll 
entertain  an  appeal  in  a  case  connected  with  the  criminal  j  urisdiction  from  i| 
any  one  of  her  subjects  in  the  Empire  ;  and  how  is  it  that  in  the  petition  I 
that  was  prepared  to  enable  the  prisoner  to  take  the  judgment  of  that 
high  tribunal  which  had  to  make  its  report  to  the  fountain  of  justice  itself 
in  the  British  Dominions — how  is  it  that  neither  the  prisoner's  counsel 
nor  himself,  nor  the  petition,  nor  anything  said  on  trial  in  his  favor,  urged    j 
a  single  objection  to  the  fairness  of  the  trial,  the  rulings  of  the  judge  at 
that  trial,  or  the  way  in  which  the  judge  had  directed  the  jury  ?     I  should 
suppose,  sir,  that  that  was  exceedingly  significant.     We  were  told,  the 
other  night,  that  the  judgment  of  the  Privy  Council  said  nothing  about 
the  procedure  of  the  trial,  that  it  was  silent  on  that  point.     The  signifi- 
cance of  that  silence  is  all  we  want.     When  a  man  has  a  full  opportunity 
to  appeal,  and  takes  his  appeal,  and  makes  no  complaint  about  the  fair- 
ness of  a  ruling  which  would  have  given  him  his  liberty  if  he  could 
establish  its  error,  I  want  to  know  if  we  need  any  more  than  the  silence 
of  the  able  counsel  by  whom  he  was  advised  and  represented,  to  satisfy  us 
that  exceptions  were  not  taken  in  the  highest  Court  of  Appeal  in  the  Em- 
pire for  the  simple  reason  that  they  did  not  exist. 

And  yet,  sir,  because  we  administered  in  the  case  of  Louis  Riel,  the 
judgment  which  the  law  pronounced,  the  confidence  of  this  House  is 
asked  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  Government.  I  must  read  from  the  Win- 
nepeg  Free  Press  an  extract  which  was  read  to  the  House  once  or  twice 
before,  and  which  I  am,  therefore,  almost  ashamed  to  repeat,  but  which  I  i 
must  repeat,  because  it  applies  directly  to  the  point  in  hand,  and  comes 
from  a  newspaper  as  hostile  to  this  Government  as  any  newspaper  in  the 
Dominion.  It  was  published  on  the  17th  of  December,  immediately  after 
the  execution .  Some  papers  have  been  accused  of  inconsistency  in  advo- 
cating Riel's  execution  beforehand,  and  taking  the  opposite  ground  after- 
wards, but  after  his  execution  the  Winnipeg  Free  Press  said  :  "  Riel  was 
fairly  tried,  honestly  convicted,  laudably  condemned,  and  justly  exe- 
cuted." 

But,  sir,  if  our  confidence  in  the  tribunals  themselves  be  not  sufficient, 
if  the  fact  that  the  courts  of  appeal  before  which  the  case  was  taken,  ruled 


SIR  JOHN  THOMPSON  251 

that  the  trial  was  fair,  and  tbat  justice  had  been  done,  be  not  sufEclent,  I 
ask  honorable  gentlemen  opposite  if,  with  any  sense  of  candor  or  fair 
play,  they  can  ask  that  this  government  should  be  condemned  for  not 
changing  the  sentence  on  the  ground  that  the  trial  had  been  unfair,  when 
there  has  not  been  down  to  this  hour  a  petition  or  request  presented  to 
the  Government,  either  from  Louis  Riel,  from  his  counsel,  from  his  eccle- 
siastical superiors,  or  from  any  of  the  advisers  or  sympathizers  he  has 
had  throughout  this  country,  for  the  commutation  of  the  sentence  on  the 
ground  that  the  trial  was  in  any  sense  unfair.  And  j^et,  sir,  after  the  deci- 
sion of  the  jury,  and  the  decision  of  the  judge  ;  after  the  decision  of  the 
Court  of  Queen's  Bench  in  Manitoba,  where,  as  I  have  said,  he  had  an 
extraordinary  advantage;  and  after  the  disposal  of  his  case  before  the 
judiciary  committee  of  the  Privy  Council ;  and  without  a  single  utterance 
from  anybody,  either  himself  or  any  sympathizers,  that  anything  was 
unfair,  this  House  is  asked  to  carry  this  resolution  on  the  ground  that  his 
trial  was  unfair,  and  give  what  Riel  never  asked,  redress  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  been  unfairly  tried. 

[In  regard  to  the  plea  of  insanity  which  had  been  brought  forward  in  Kiel's 
trial.  Sir  John,  after  considering  it  at  some  length,  concluded  as  follows  :] 

Upon  that  subject  I  might  cite  at  some  length,  but  I  refrain  from 
doing  so.  The  celebrated  case  which  was  tried  in  the  United  States  a  few 
years  ago,  and  with  relation  to  which  the  man  who  was  condemned,  if  the 
evidence  is  to  be  believed,  had  a  tenfold  stronger  case  on  which  to  base  a 
plea  of  insanity  than  Louis  Riel.  I  refer  to  the  case  of  Guiteau.  The 
treatment  which  he  received  at  the  hands  of  the  law  and  of  the  Executive, 
notwithstanding  his  strong  political  and  religious  delusions,  is  well  known, 
and  met  with  very  slight,  if  any,  condemnation,  either  in  the  United  States 
or  here.  On  the  24th  of  January,  1882,  a  journal  which  exercises  a  great 
influence  in  this  country,  and  speaks,  or  professes  to  speak,  for  a  political 
party  in  this  country — the  journal  which  I  heard  an  honorable  member 
declare  the  other  night,  penetrated  to  the  utmost  recesses  of  the  earth — 
used  this  language  with  regard  to  the  case  of  Guiteau,  and  I  cite  it  because 
it  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  the  case  of  Riel,  although  the  conductors  of 
the  journal  do  not  seem  to  think  so  now.  Speaking  of  the  comments 
which  an  observer  might  make  in  Guiteau 's  case,  they  said,  and  honor- 
able gentlemen  will  see  as  I  progress  : 

"  If  sufficiently  credulous  to  accept  the  murderer's  asseverations  as 
anything  more  than  a  piece  of  arrant  hypocrisy,  an  artifice  of  his  cunning 
little  mind  to  save  his  neck  from  the  gallows  ;  if  he  could  bring  himself 
to  credit  the  wretch  with  sincerity,  he  could  not  resist  the  inference  that 
the  inspiration  was  from  beneath  and  not  from  above,  and  that  having  done 


SDt  JOHN  THOMPSON 

of  tte  gaatt  advccaoj  on  eutlu  be  Ind  better  be  sent  as 

as  a  doe  R;gud  Ibrfbe  faaas  oi  hummn  jistioe  would  pennit  to 

of 

like  the  IVmnAo  GMrwonld 

in  GuitnuBi's  sitoation  because 

r,  and  tieat  Kid  on  a  different  prin- 

be  a  fmdtar  in  the  poiitics  of  tliis 


to  •^■"^^M^  point  in  dds  btanch  of  the  sub- 
to  Ibc  §tA  ttat  the  Indians  whom  this  mar: 
way  cxnd  mnidas  at  Frog  Lake,  winch 
qf  tigwindloodly  farfteeaecttUonof  the  supieme 
OelawiqEBiKt  tbc  JmSaas  itnM.-eiia?*!  in  that  massacre,  not 

bnt  on  otlier  ground  on  winch 

anvlj,  that  it  is  abso- 

bf  making  a  great  CEam^  by  the  inflidioa  of  sach  pun 

people  disfHWHl  to  dime  &om  oonmutting  it.     How 

id  fhe  Fkog  I«ake  inavai  re  have  been  punished,  if 

to  idbd — and  Ae  nntssaciewas  to  them  the 

of  ndbcffioB — had  csLaped  ?    How  ooold  tiie  ptmishment  of 

or  any  delcncnt  effect  have  been  achieved . 

the  " aich  tndtnr,"— if  tiie  "  tiidster,"  as  he 

£d  dKm  tiieir  best  seivioe, — was  allowed  to 

nntil  he  c^iose  to  get  lid  of  bis  tem- 

',  as  I  haw^e  said,  to  show  to 

to  eveiy  section  of  the  coontiy,  and  to 

ttat  the  power  of  the  GoTemment  in 

cafy  to  pnitect,  bat  to  punish.     In  the 

of  jnslioewifliregjaid  tothose  tenitodes  in  partictdar,  it 

of  capital  pnnishment 
be  called intoplay.  ¥<  —lii  ■  \  Ibil  h  iiitnTii",  Imiix^  i "  tin  iirrri 
sitr  is  Sar-ngoams  gum^mmait  there,  and  through  the  eniorcement  of 
evay  laanib  of  tte  law,  I  ant  not  ^igpniWi  to  be  inhumane,  or  nnmerci- 
fid,  in  tbt  tmSaasemoA  of  fkt  penalty  wfaidi  tiie  law  pronounces,  bnt  in 
to  nMn  of  tins  dass,  who  time  and  again  have  been  candidates 
pcqaUy  of  tiK  law,  who  have  despised  mercy  wheji  it  was 
I  would  give  die  Ausmur  to  ^ipeals  for  mercy  which 
proposed  to  abofiah  capital  pumshment  in  France, 
Vaywdl^letflK 


BOOK  VL 
The  Famous  Pulpit  Orators  of  America 

AMONG  the  many  fidck  for  oratcmcal  ^sphj, 
none  has  been  nearly  so  prolific  as  die  pn^Mt, 
in  whidi  weekly  thousands  oC   sefmoos  aie 
delivered   by  men   trained  to  the  fullest  and   most 
effective  powers  of  expression  in  this   art.     In  this 
multitude  of  cultivated  orators  it  wooki  be  strange; 
indeed,  if  there  were  not  many  of  superior  powers. 
And  their  subject,  the  salvation  <^  man,  is  one  that 
lends   itself    to   fervid   and   vehenKJit  examples  of 
oratory.     The  pulpit   orator  who   is  thoronglily  in 
earnest  has  a  theme  not  surpassed  in  its  inspiring 
force  by  the  most  revoluti<Miary  and  exdting  oi  pcdi- 
tical  conditions^     As  a  rule,  however,  the  incessant 
repetition  of  pulpit  orations  is  apt  to  cjoendi  die  fire 
of  eloquence  in  the  most  earnest  of  speakers*  and 
leave  a  tameness  from  niiich  few  escape  in  the  end. 
Their  ^orts  beanne  forced.     They  are  not  chie  to 
single  stirring  occasions^  of  passing  moment,  bat  to 
permanent  conditions  against  which  it  is  not  easy  to 
maintain  an  in^iring  indignation.     And  the  sermoov 
to  be  fully  interesdng,  needs  to  be  heard ;  widi  all  the 
aids  of  solemn  surroondings*  elevation  c^  sentimoit, 
and  the  grace  and  pow^-  of  ^mken  words.     When 
read,  its  fine  aroma  is  ^>t  to  dis^^ear.     In  <^erin^ 
selections  from  the  leading  pulpit  orators^  therefore; 
it  seems  best  to  take  them,  as  a  rule,  firom  the  seen- 
lar  efforts  of  these  ^oquent  men.     The  nHxal  force 
and  the  trained  oratory  remain,  and  with  these  is 
associated  a  living  interest  in  the  subject  which  does 
not  always  inhere  in  that  of  the  printed  sermoii. 


LYMAN  BEECHER  ( J  775- J  863) 

ORATOR  AND  FATHER  OF  ORATORS  AND  WRITERS 


mHE  doctrine  of  heredity  in  genius  finds  warrant  in  the  history 
of  the  Beecher  family,  in  which  the  children  of  a  father  of 
distinguished  powers  in  oratory  inherited  his  mental  grasp 
and  surpassed  him  in  fame,  in  oratory  and  literature.  In  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century  Lyman  Beecher  was  one  of  the  most 
popular  pulpit  orators  in  the  land,  a  zealous  and  highly  successful  de- 
fender in  New  England  of  the  orthodox  faith  against  the  Unitarianism. 
He  was  an  active  and  earnest  promotor  of  temperance  and  other  moral 
issues,  and  was  distinguished  for  boldness  and  energy  of  character. 
His  sermons  on  temperance  had  an  immense  circulation. 

THE  SACREDNESS  OF  THE  SABBATH 
[As  an  orator  Lyman  Beecher  was  vigorous  and  at  times  rose  to  high  exaltation 
of  style.     He  strongly  opposed  any  weakening  of  the  old  bonds  of  religious  observ- 
ance, as  is  evinced  in  the  following  selection,  in  which  the  growing  secularization  of 
the  Sabbath  and  other  moral  delinquencies  are  eloquently  denounced.] 

The  crisis  has  come.  By  the  people  of  this  generation,  by  ourselves 
probably,  the  amazing  question  is  to  be  decided,  whether  the  inheritance 
of  our  fathers  shall  be  preserved  or  thrown  away  ;  whether  -our  Sabbaths 
shall  be  a  delight  or  a  loathing  ;  whether  the  taverns,  on  that  holy  day, 
shall  be  crowded  with  drunkards,  or  the  sanctuary  of  God  with  humble 
worshippers  ;  whether  riot  and  profaneness  shall  fill  our  streets,  and  pov- 
erty our  dwellings,  and  convicts  our  jails,  and  violence  our  land,  or 
whether  industry,  and  temperance,  and  righteousness  shall  be  the  sta- 
bility of  our  times  ;  whether  mild  laws  shall  receive  the  cheerful  submis- 
sion of  freemen ,  or  the  iron  rod  of  a  tyrant  compel  the  trembling  homage 
of  slaves.  Be  not  deceived.  Human  nature  in  this  state  is  like  human 
nature  everywhere.  All  actual  difference  in  our  favor  is  adventitious, 
and  the  result  of  our  laws,  institutions,  and  habits.  It  is  a  moral 
254 


LYMAN  BEECHER  ^ 255 

influence  which,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  has  formed  a  state  of  society  so 
eminently  desirable.  The  same  influence  which  has  formed  it  is  indis- 
pensable to  its  preservation.  The  rocks  and  hills  of  New  England  will 
remain  till  the  last  conflagration.  But  let  the  Sabbath  be  profaned  with 
impunity,  the  worship  of  God  abandoned,  the  government  and  religious 
instruction  of  children  neglected,  and  the  streams  of  intemperance  be  per- 
mitted to  flow,  and  her  glory  will  depart.  The  wall  of  fire  will  no  more 
surround  her,  and  the  munition  of  rocks  will  no  longer  be  her  defence. 

If  we  neglect  our  duty,  and  suffer  our  laws  and  institutions  to  go 
down,  we  give  them  up  forever.  It  is  easy  to  relax,  easy  to  retreat,  but 
impossible,  when  the  abomination  of  desolation  has  once  passed  over  New 
England,  to  rear  again  the  thrown-down  altars,  and  gather  again  the 
fragments,  and  build  up  the  ruins  of  demolished  institutions.  Another 
New  England  nor  we  nor  our  children  shall  ever  see,  if  this  be  destroyed. 
All  is  lost  irretrievably  when  the  landmarks  are  once  removed  and  the 
bands  which  now  hold  us  are  once  broken.  Such  institutions,  and  such 
a  state  of  society,  can  be  established  only  by  such  men  as  our  fathers  were, 
and  in  such  circumstances  as  they  were  in.  They  could  not  have  made  a 
New  England  in  Holland.     They  made  the  attempt,  but  failed. 

The  hand  that  overturns  our  laws  and  altars,  is  the  hand  of  death 
unbarring  the  gate  of  Pandemonium  and  letting  loose  upon  our  land  the 
crimes  and  the  miseries  of  hell.  If  the  Most  High  should  stand  aloof, 
and  cast  not  a  single  ingredient  into  our  cup  of  trembling,  it  would  seem 
I  to  be  full  of  superlative  woe.  But  He  will  not  stand  aloof.  As  we  shall 
have  begun  an  open  controversy  with  Him,  He  will  contend  openly  with 
us.  And  never,  since  the  earth  stood,  has  it  been  so  fearful  a  thing  for 
nations  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  The  day  of  vengeance 
is  in  His  heart,  the  day  of  judgment  has  come  :  the  great  earthquake 
which  sinks  Babylon  is  shaking  the  nations,  and  the  waves  of  the  mighty 
commotion  are  dashing  upon  every  shore.  Is  this,  then,  a  time  to  remove 
foundations,  when  the  earth  itself  is  shaken  ?  Is  this  a  time  to  forfeit  the 
protection  of  God,  when  the  hearts  of  men  are  failing  them  for  fear,  and 
for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth  ?  Is  this  a 
time  to  run  upon  His  neck  and  the  thick  bosses  of  His  buckler,  when  the 
nations  are  drinking  blood,  and  fainting,  and  passing  away  in  His  wrath  ? 
Is  this  a  time  to  throw  away  the  shield  of  faith,  when  His  arrows  are 
drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  slain  ?  To  cut  from  the  anchor  of  hope,  when 
the  clouds  are  collecting,  and  the  sea  and  the  waves  are  roaring,  and 
:hunders  are  uttering  their  voices,  and  lightnings  blazing  in  the  heavens, 
.nd  the  great  hail  is  falling  from  heaven  upon  men,  and  every  mountain, 
,  and  island  is  fleeing  in  dismay  from  the  face  of  an  incensed  God  ? 


WILLIAM  ELLERY  CHANNING   (J 780- J 842) 

THE  GREAT  UNITARIAN  ORATOR  AND  WRITER 


mN  William  Ellery  Channing,  Rhode  Island  contributed  to  the 
American  pulpit  one  of  the  most  brilliant  figures  that  have 
ever  occupied  it.  To  the  Unitarian  Church  he  came  as  a 
revelation,  a  leader  of  unsurpassed  eloquence  and  influence.  Not 
alone  as  a  pulpit  orator,  did  he  win  distinction,  but  as  a  writer 
as  well,  his  merit  in  this  field  being  of  a  very  high  order.  His  style, 
always  clear,  forcible  and  elegant,  rises  at  times  into  strains  of  the 
loftiest  eloquence.  In  this  direction  no  American  has  ever  surpassed 
him.  Of  his  pulpit  orations,  that  on  the  fall  of  Napoleon  is  regarded 
as  the  most  splendid,  while  his  lectures  on  Self  Culture  had  a  wide 
circulation.  His  oratory  always  charmed  his  audience,  alike  for  its 
winning  manner  and  its  moral  force. 

THE  RIGHTS  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL 

[From  Channing's  works  we  select  two  brief  examples,  as  illustrations  of  his 
breadth  of  thought  and  power  of  expression  ;  the  first  clearly  showing  the  true  rela- 
tions of  men  to  the  State  ;  the  second  indicating  in  what  respects  military  genius  falls 
below  the  highest  mental  power.] 

It  seems  to  be  thought  by  some  that  a  man  derives  all  his  rights  from 
the  nation  to  which  he  belongs.  They  are  gifts  of  the  State,  and  the 
State  may  take  them  away  if  it  will.  A  man,  it  is  thought,  has  claims 
on  other  men,  not  as  a  man,  but  as  an  Englishman,  an  American,  or  a 
subject  of  some  other  State.  He  must  produce  his  parchment  of  citizen- 
ship before  he  binds  other  men  to  protect  him,  to  respect  his  free  agency, 
to  leave  him  the  use  of  his  powers  according  to  his  own  will.  Local, 
municipal  law  is  thus  made  the  fountain  and  measure  of  rights.  The 
stranger  must  tell  us  where  he  was  born,  what  privileges  he  enjoyed  at 
home,  or  no  tie  links  us  to  one  another. 
256 


WILLIAM  ELLERY  CHANNING  ^257 

In  conformity  to  these  views  it  is  thought  that  when  one  community 
declares  a  man  to  be  a  slave,  other  communities  must  respect  this  decree ; 
that  the  duties  of  a  foreign  nation  to  an  individual  are  to  be  determined  by 
a  brand  set  on  him  on  his  own  shores  ;  that  his  relations  to  the  whole 
race  may  be  affected  by  the  local  act  of  a  community,  no  matter  how 
small  or  how  unjust. 

This  is  a  terrible  doctrine.  It  strikes  a  blow  at  all  the  rights  of 
human  nature.  It  enables  the  political  body  to  which  we  belong,  no 
matter  how  wicked  or  weak,  to  make  each  of  us  an  outcast  from  his  race. 
It  makes  a  man  nothing  in  himself.  As  a  man,  he  has  no  significance. 
He  is  sacred  only  as  far  as  some  State  has  taken  him  under  his  care. 
Stripped  of  his  nationality,  he  is  at  the  mercy  of  all  who  may  incline  to 
lay  hold  on  him.  He  may  be  seized,  imprisoned,  sent  to  work  in  galleys 
or  mines,  unless  some  foreign  State  spreads  its  shield  over  him  as  one  of 
its  citizens. 

The  doctrine  is  as  false  as  it  is  terrible.  Man  is  not  the  mere  crea- 
ture of  the  State.  Man  is  older  than  nations,  and  he  is  to  survive  nations.  ' 
There  is  a  law  of  humanity  more  primitive  and  divine  than  the  law  of  the 
land.  He  has  higher  claims  than  those  of  a  citizen.  He  has  rights  which 
date  before  all  charters  of  communities  ;  not  conventional,  not  repealable, 
but  as  eternal  as  the  powers  and  laws  of  his  being. 

This  annihilation  of  the  individual  by  merging  him  in  the  State  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  despotism.  The  nation  is  too  often  the  grave  of  the 
man.  This  is  the  more  monstrous  because  the  very  end  of  the  State,  of  the 
organization  of  the  nation,  is  to  secure  the  individual  in  all  his  rights, 
and  especially  to  secure  the  rights  of  the  weak.  Here  is  the  fundamental 
idea  of  political  association.  In  an  unorganized  society,  with  no  legisla- 
tion, no  tribunal,  no  empire,  rights  have  no  security.  Force  predomi- 
nates over  rights.  This  is  the  grand  evil  of  what  is  called  the  state  of 
nature.  To  repress  this,  to  give  right  the  ascendency  of  force,  this  is  the 
grand  idea  and  end  of  government,  of  country,  of  political  institutions.  I 
repeat  it,  for  the  truth  deserves  iteration,  that  all  nations  are  bound  to 
I  respect  the  rights  of  every  human  being.  This  is  God's  law,  as  old  as 
the  world.     No  local  law  can  touch  it. 

MILITARY  GENIUS— FROM  THE  ESSAY  ON  NAPOLEON 

i  The  chief  work  of  a  general  is  to  apply  physical  force  ;  to  remove  physi- 
jcal  obstructions  ;  to  avail  himself  of  physical  aids  and  advantages  ;  to  act  on 
matter;  to  overcome  rivers,  ramparts,  mountains,  and  human  muscles; 
md  these  are  not  the  highest  objects  of  mind,  nor  do  they  demand  intelli- 
gence of  the  highest  order  ;  and  accordingly  nothing  is  more  common  than 
17 


258  WILLIAM  ELLERY  CHANNING 

to  find  men,  eminent  in  this  department,  who  are  wanting  in  the  noblest 
energies  of  the  soul ;  in  habits  of  profound  and  liberal  thinking,  in 
imagination  and  taste,  in  the  capacity  of  enjoying  works  of  genius,  and 
in  large  and  original  views  of  human  nature  and  society.  The  office  of  a 
great  general  does  not  differ  widely  from  that  of  a  great  mechanician, 
whose  business  it  is  to  frame  new  combinations  of  physical  forces,  to 
adapt  them  to  new  circumstances,  and  to  remove  new  obstructions. 
Accordingly  great  generals,  away  from  the  camp,  are  often  no  greater 
men  than  the  mechanician  taken  from  his  workshop.  In  conversation 
they  are  often  dull.  Deep  and  refined  reasonings  they  cannot  comprehend. 
We  know  that  there  are  splendid  exceptions.  Such  was  Caesar,  at  once 
the  greatest  soldier  and  the  most  sagacious  statesman  of  his  age,  whilst  in 
eloquence  and  literature,  he  left  behind  him  almost  all,  who  had  devoted 
themselves  exclusively  to  these  pursuits.  But  such  cases  are  rare.  The 
conqueror  of  Napoleon,  the  hero  of  Waterloo,  possesses  undoubtedly 
great  military  talents;  but  we  do  not  understand,  that  his  most  partial 
admirers  claim  for  him  a  place  in  the  highest  class  of  minds.  We  will 
not  go  down  for  illustration  to  such  men  as  Nelson,  a  man  great  on  the 
deck,  but  debased  by  gross  vices,  and  who  never  pretended  to  enlargement 
of  intellect.  To  institute  a  comparison  in  point  of  talent  and  genius 
between  such  men  and  Milton,  Bacon  and  Shakespeare,  is  almost  an  insult 
to  these  illustrious  names.  Who  can  think  of  these  truly  great  intelli- 
gences ;  of  the  range  of  their  minds  through  heaven  and  earth  ;  of  their ' 
deep  intuition  into  the  soul ;  of  their  new  and  glowing  combinations  of 
thought ;  of  the  energy  with  which  they  grasped,  and  subjected  to  their 
main  purpose,  the  infinite  materials  of  illustration  which  nature  and  life 
afford, — who  can  think  of  the  form  of  transcendent  beauty  and  grandeur 
which  they  created,  or  which  were  rather  emanations  of  their  own  minds  ; 
of  the  calm  wisdom  and  fervid  imagination  which  they  conjoined  ;  of  the 
voice  of  power,  in  which  ^'though  dead,  they  still  speak,'*  and  awaken 
intellect,  sensibility,  and  genius  in  both  hemispheres,  who  can  think  of 
such  men,  and  not  feel  the  immense  inferiority  of  the  most  gifted  warrior, 
whose  elements  of  thought  are  physical  forces  and  physical  obstructions, 
and  whose  employment  is  the  combination  of  the  lowest  class  of  objects 
on  which  a  powerful  mind  can  be  employed. 


THEODORE  PARKER  ( J  8 1 0=  J  860) 

THE  FERVENT  ORATOR  OF  EMANCIPATION 


SIDE  by  side  with  Phillips  and  Garrison  in  opposition  to  African 
slavery  should  be  placed  Theodore  Parker,  to  whom  the 
Southern  system  appeared  a  tissue  of  abominations,  and  who 
gave  all  the  great  powers  of  his  ardent  and  emotional  mind  to  the 
advocacy  of  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  A  heretic  to  the  prevailing 
sentiment  in  this  respect,  he  was  equally  heretical  in  his  religious 
views,  and  aroused  much  acrimonious  criticism  by  his  rationalistic 
teachings.  A  native  of  Lexington,  Massachusetts,  the  place  of  ori- 
gin of  the  Revolutionary  War,  his  whole  life  was  a  warfare  against 
.prevailing  views  and  institutions.  Entering  the  Unitarian  ministry, 
he  began  to  preach  in  1836.  But  his  studies  of  German  rationalism 
caused  important  changes  in  his  theological  belief,  changes  which  he 
made  no  effort  to  conceal,  and  he  was  soon  vigorously  opposed  by 
many  of  his  Unitarian  brethren.  His  unusual  ability  as  an  orator 
and  thinker,  however,  brought  him  an  abundant  audience,  and  in 
1846  he  was  regularly  installed  at  the  Melodeon,  in  Boston,  where  he 
continued  to  disseminate  what  many  criticised  as  plain  heresy  for  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  While  performing  his  duties  as  a  minister,  he 
[Jwas  a  deep  student  and  for  years  a  highly  popular  lecturer.  But 
the  subject  to  which  he  gave  the  most  attention  was  the  iniquity  of 
human  slavery,  against  which  for  years  he  fought  with  all  his  great 
[powers  of  mind,  and  died  on  the  verge  of  the  success  of  his  opinions. 

THE  GREATNESS  AND  THE  WEAKNESS  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

[The  public  life  and  private  character  of  Webster  has  never  been  so  set  forth, 

like  in  its  greatness  and  its  weakness,  as  in  the  memorable  attack  made  by  Parker  on 

le  mighty  orator  after  he  had  passed  away.     Webster's  course  of  action  in  regard  to 

ivery  the  ardent  abolitionist  could  not  forgive,  and  while  giving  him  full  credit  for 

259 


260  THEODORE  PARKER 

his  wonderful  powers  of  mind  and  body,  he  dissected  and  laid  bare  the  defects  of  his 
character  and  attainments  in  a  remarkably  effective  manner.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
point  to  a  more  complete  analysis  of  a  human  character  in  a  brief  space  than  in  the 
selection  here  given  from  Parker's  address.] 

Do  men  mourn  for  him,  the  great  man  eloquent  ?  I  put  on  sack- 
cloth long  ago.  I  mourned  for  him  when  he  wrote  the  Creole  letter 
which  surprised  Ashburton,  Briton  that  he  was.  I  mourned  when  he 
spoke  the  speech  of  the  seventh  of  March.  I  mourned  when  the  Fu'gitive 
Slave  Bill  passed  Congress,  and  the  same  cannon  that  have  fired  *'  minute 
guns  "  for  him  fired  also  one  hundred  rounds  of  joy  for  the  forging  of  a 
new  fetter  for  the  fugitive's  foot.  I  mourned  for  him  when  the  kidnap- 
pers first  came  to  Boston — hated  then — now  respectable  men,  the  com- 
panions of  princes,  enlarging  their  testimony  in  the  Court.  I  mourned 
when  my  own  parishioners  fled  from  the  "  stripes  "  of  New  England  to 
the  stars  of  Old  England.  I  mourned  when  Ellen  Craft  fled  to  my  house 
for  shelter  and  for  succor  ;  and  for  the  first  time  in  all  my  life,  I  armed 
this  hand.  I  mourned  when  the  courthouse  was  hung  in  chains  ;  when 
Thomas  Sims,  from  his  dungeon,  sent  out  his  petition  for  prayers  and  the 
churches  did  not  dare  to  pray.  I  mourned  when  I  married  William  and 
Ellen  Craft,  and  gave  them  a  Bible  for  their  soul,  and  a  sword  to  keep 
that  soul  living  and  in  a  living  frame.  I  mourned  when  the  poor  outcast 
in  yonder  dungeon  sent  for  me  to  visit  him,  and'  when  I  took  him  by  the 
hand  that  Daniel  Webster  was  chaining  in  that  house.  I  mourned  for 
Webster  when  we  prayed  our  prayer  and  sung  our  song  on  L,ong  Wharf 
in  the  morning's  gray.  I  mourned  then  ;  I  shall  not  cease  to  mourn. 
The  flags  wUl  be  removed  from  the  streets,  the  cannon  will  sound  their 
other  notes  of  joy  ;  but  for  me  I  shall  go  mourning  all  my  days.  I  shall 
refuse  to  be  comforted,  and  at  last  I  shall  lay  down  my  gray  hairs  with 
weeping  and  with  sorrow  in  the  grave.  Oh,  Webster  !  Webster  !  would 
God  that  I  had  died  for  thee  ! 

He  was  a  great  man,  a  man  of  the  largest  mold,  a  great  body  and  a 
great  brain  ;  he  seemed  made  to  last  a  hundred  years.  Since  Socrates, 
there  has  seldom  been  a  head  so  massive,  so  huge — seldom  such  a  face 
since  the  stormy  features  of  Michael  Angelo  : — 

'*  The  hand  that  rounded  Peter's  dome, 
And  groined  the  aisles  of  Christian  Rome  ' ' — 

he  who  sculptured  Day  and  Night  into  such  beautiful  forms, — he  looked 
them  in  his  face  before  he  chiseled  them  into  stone.  Dupuytren  and 
Cuvier  are  said  to  be  the  only  men  in  our  day  that  have  had  a  brain  so 
vast.  Since  Charlemagne  I  think  there  has  not  been  such  a  grand  figure  in 
all  Christendom.     A  large  man,  decorous  in  dress,  dignified  in  deportment 


THEODORE  PARKER  261 

he  walked  as  if  he  felt  himself  a  king.  Men  from  the  country,  who 
knew  him  not,  stared  at  him  as  he  passed  through  our  streets.  The  coal- 
heavers  and  porters  of  I^ondon  looked  on  him  as  one  of  the  great  forces  of 
the  globe  ;  they  recognized  a  native  king.  In  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  he  looked  an  emperor  in  that  council.  Even  the  majestic  Calhoun 
seemed  common  compared  with  him.  Clay  looked  vulgar,  and  Van 
Buren  but  a  fox.  What  a  mouth  he  had  !  It  was  a  lion's  mouth.  Yet 
there  was  a  sweet  grandeur  in  his  smile,  and  a  woman's  sweetness  when 
he  would.  What  a  brow  it  was  !  What  eyes  !  like  charcoal  fire  in  the 
bottom  of  a  deep,  dark  well.  His  face  was  rugged  with  volcanic  fires, 
great  passions  and  great  thoughts  : 

' '  The  front  of  Jove  himself ; 
And  eyes  like  Mars,  to  threaten  and  command." 

Divide  the  faculties,  not  bodily,  into  intellectual,  moral,  affectional, 
and  religious ;  and  try  him  on  that  scale.  His  late  life  shows  that  he  had 
little  religion — somewhat  of  its  lower  forms — conventional  devoutness, 
formality  of  praj^er,  "  the  ordinances  of  religion  "  ;  but  he  had  not  a  great 
man's  all-conquering  look  to  God.  It  is  easy  to  be  "devout."  The 
Pharisee  was  more  so  than  the  Publican.  It  is  hard  to  be  moral. 
* '  Devoutness  ' '  took  the  Priest  and  the  Levite  to  the  temple ;  morality 
the  Samaritan  to  the  man  fallen  among  thieves.  Men  tell  us  he  was 
religious,  and  in  proof  declare  that  he  read  the  Bible  ;  thought  Job  a  great 
epic  poem  ;  quoted  Habakkuk  from  memory,  and  knew  hymns  by  heart ; 
and  latterly  agreed  with  a  New  Hampshire  divine  in  all  the  doctrines  of  a 
Christian  life. 

Of  the  affections  he  was  well  provided  by  nature — though  they  were 
little  cultivated — very  attractable  to  a  few.  Those  who  knew  him,  loved 
him  tenderly  ;  and  if  he  hated  like  a  giant,  he  also  loved  like  a  king.  Of 
unimpassioned  and  unrelated  love,  there  are  two  chief  forms  :  friendship 
and  philanthropy.  Friendship  he  surely  had  ;  all  along  the  shore  men 
loved  him.  Men  in  Boston  loved  him ;  even  Washington  held  loving 
hearts  that  worshipped  him. 

Of  philanthropy,  I  cannot  claim  much  for  him  ;  I  find  it  not.  Of 
conscience,  it  seemed  to  me  he  had  little  ;  in  his  later  life  exceeding  little; 
his  moral  sense  seemed  long  besotted  ;  almost,  though  not  wholly,  gone. 
Hence,  though  he  was  often  generous,  he  was  not  just.  P'ree  to  give  as 
to  grasp,  he  was  charitable  by  instinct,  not  disinterested  on  principle. 

His  strength  lay  not  in  the  religious,  nor  in  the  affectional,  nor  in  the 

moral  part  of  man.     His  intellect  was  immense.     His  power  of  compre- 

|hension  was  vast.     He  methodized  swiftly.     But  if  you  look  at  the  forms 

of  intellectual  action ,  you  may  distribute  them  into  three  ^reat  modes  of 


262  THEODORE  PARKER 

force:  the  understanding,  the  imagination,  and  the  reason — the  under- 
standing, dealing  with  details  and  methods ;  the  imagination,  with  beauty, 
with  power  to  create  ;  reason,  with  first  principles  and  universal  laws. 

We  must  deny  to  Mr.  Webster  the  great  reason.  He  does  not  belong 
to  the  great  men  of  that  department, — the  Socrates,  Aristotle,  Plato, 
Leibnitz,  Newton,  Descartes,  and  the  other  mighties.  He  seldom  grasps 
a  universal  law.  His  measures  of  expediency  for  to-day  are  seldom  bot- 
tomed on  universal  principles  of  right  which  last  forever. 

I  cannot  assign  to  him  a  large  imagination.  He  was  not  creative  of 
new  forms  of  thought  or  of  beauty  ;  so  he  lacks  the  poetic  charm  which 
gladdens  the  loftiest  eloquence.  But  his  understanding  was  exceedingly 
great.  He  acquired  readily  and  retained  well ;  arranged  with  ease  and  skill ; 
and  fluently  reproduced.  As  a  scholar  he  passed  for  learned  in  the  Senate, 
where  scholars  are  few  ;  for  a  universal  man  with  editors  of  political  and 
commercial  prints.  But  his  learning  was  narrow  in  its  range,  and  not 
very  nice  in  its  accuracy.  His  reach  in  history  and  literature  was  very 
small  for  a  great  man  seventy  years  of  age,  always  associating  with  able 
men.  To  science  he  seems  to  have  paid  scarcely  any  attention  at  all.  It 
is  a  short  radius  that  measures  the  arc  of  his  historic  realm.  A  few  Latin 
authors  whom  he  loved  to  quote  make  up  his  meagre  classic  store.  He 
was  not  a  scholar,  and  it  is  idle  to  claim  great  scholarship  for  him. 

As  a  statesman  his  lack  of  what  I  call  the  highest  reason  and  imagin- 
ation continually  appears.  To  the  national  stock  he  added  no  new  idea, 
created  out  of  new  thought  ;  no  great  maxim,  created  out  of  human  his- 
tory and  old  thought.  The  great  ideas  of  the  time  were  not  born  in  his' 
bosom.  He  organized  nothing.  There  were  great  ideas  of  practical 
value  seeking  lodgment  in  the  body  ;  he  aided  them  not. 

What  a  sad  life  was  his  !  At  Portsmouth  his  house  burned  down,  all 
uninsured.  His  wife  died, — a  loving  woman,  beautiful  and  tenderly 
beloved  !  Of  several  children,  all  save  one  have  gone  before  him  to  the 
tomb.  Sad  man  ;  he  lived  to  build  his  children's  monument !  Do  you 
remember  the  melancholy  spectacle  in  the  street  when  Major  Webster,  a 
victim  of  the  Mexican  War,  was  by  his  father  laid  down  in  yonder  tomb, 
— a  daughter,  too,  but  recently  laid  low  !  How  poor  seemed  then  the 
ghastly  pageant  in  the  street, — empty  and  hollow  as  the  muffled  drum. 
For  years  he  has  seemed  to  me  like  one  of  the  tragic  heroes  of  the  Grecian 
tale,  pursued  by  fate,  and  latterly — the  saddest  sight  in  all  this  Western 
World, — widowed  of  so  much  he  loved,  and  grasping  at  what  was  not  only 
vanity,  but  the  saddest  vexation  of  the  heart.  I  have  long  mourned  for  him 
as  no  living  or  departed  man.  He  blasted  us  with  scornful  lightning. 
Him,  if  I  could,  I  would  not  blast,  but  only  bless  continually  and  evertnore, 


HENRY  WARD  BEECHER  (t8I3-I887) 

PLYMOUTH'S  FAMOUS  PASTOR  AND  ORATOR 


mHE  eloquence  of  the  modern  pulpit  reached  its  culmination  in 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who  for  forty  years  made  Plymouth 
Church,  Brooklyn,  the  central  point  of  a  great  weekly  pilgrim- 
age of  the  lovers  of  fine  pulpit  oratory.  In  breadth  of  mind,  origin- 
ality of  thought,  racy  and  often  humorous  expression,  underlined  with 
a  deep  moral  and  spiritual  earnestness,  Beecher  dwelt  unsurpassed. 
His  fame  as  an  orator  was  not  confined  to  the  pulpit.  On  the  lecture 
platform  he  was  equally  great  and  popular.  Impelled  by  his  train- 
ing, environment,  and  hatred  of  all  things  evil,  he  entered  earnestly 
into  the  crusade  against  slavery,  and  won  the  reputation  of  being  one 
of  the  greatest,  if  not  distinctively  the  greatest,  orators  of  the  Civil 
War  period.  Certainly,  no  more  splendid  bursts  of  oratory  than  those 
of  Beecher  were  called  forth  by  the  events  of  this  dread  conflict.  In 
the  cause  of  temperance  he  was  also  noted,  and  no  reform,  social  or 
political,  was  left  without  his  powerful  support. 

LINCOLN  DEAD  AND  A  NATION  IN  GRIEF 

[Of  Beecher's  secular  orations  may  especially  be  named,  as  among  his  ablest 
and  most  striking  efforts,  that  called  forth  on  the  replacing  of  the  flag  of  on  Fort  Sumter, 
and  that  of  two  days  later  (April  i6,  1865,)  on  the  death  of  Lincoln.  In  the  former 
the  note  of  triumph  prevails,  in  the  latter  the  note  of  pathos.  We  append  the  Lincoln 
oration  as  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  elegiac  oratory,] 

In  one  hour  joy  lay  without  a  pulse,  without  a  gleam  or  breath.  A 
sorrow  came  that  swept  through  the  land  as  huge  storms  sweep  through 
the  forest  and  field,  rolling  thunder  along  the  sky,  disheveling  the  flow- 
ers, daunting  every  singer  in  thicket  and  forest,  and  pouring  blackness 
and  darkness  across  the  land  and  up  the  mountains.  Did  ever  so  many 
hearts,  in  so  brief  a  time,  touch  two  such  boundless  feelings  ?     It  was  the 

263 


264  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 

uttermost  of  joy  ;  it  was  the  uttermost  of  sorrow — noon  and  midnight, 
without  a  space  between. 

The  blow  brought  not  a  sharp  pang.  It  was  so  terrible  that  at  first 
it  stunned  sensibility.  Citizens  were  like  men  awakened  at  midnight  by 
an  earthquake  and  bewildered  to  find  everything  that  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  trust  wavering  and  falling.  The  very  earth  was  no  longer  solid. 
The  first  feeling  was  the  least.  Men  waited  to  get  straight  to  feel.  They 
wandered  in  the  streets  as  if  groping  after  some  impending  dread,  or 
undeveloped  sorrow,  or  someone  to  tell  them  what  ailed  them.  They  met 
each  other  as  if  each  would  ask  the  other,  * '  Am  I  awake,  or  do  I  dream  ?' ' 
There  was  a  piteous  helplessness.  Strong  men  bowed  down  and  wept. 
Other  and  common  griefs  belonged  to  some  one  in  chief ;  this  belonged 
to  all.  It  was  each  and  every  man's.  Every  virtuous  household  in  the 
land  felt  as  if  its  first-born  were  gone.  Men  were  bereaved  and  walked 
for  days  as  if  a  corpse  lay  unburied  in  their  dwellings.  There  was  nothing 
else  to  think  of.  They  could  speak  of  nothing  but  that ;  and  yet  of  that 
they  could  speak  only  falteringly.  All  business  was  laid  aside.  Pleasure 
forgot  to  smile.  The  city  for  nearly  a  week  ceased  to  roar.  The  great 
Leviathan  lay  down  and  was  still.  Even  avarice  stood  still,  and  greed 
was  strangely  moved  to  generous  sympathy  and  universal  sorrow.  Rear 
to  his  name  monuments,  found  charitable  institutions,  and  write  his  name 
above  their  lintels ;  but  no  monument  will  ever  equal  the  universal, 
spontaneous,  and  sublime  sorrow  that  in  a  moment  swept  down  lines  and 
parties,  and  covered  up  animosities,  and  in  an  hour  brought  a  divided 
people  into  unity  of  grief  and  indivisible  fellowship  of  anguish 

Even  he  who  now  sleeps  has,  by  this  event,  been  clothed  with  new 
influence.  Dead,  he  speaks  to  men  who  now  willingly  hear  what  before 
they  refused  to  listen  to.  Now  his  simple  and  weighty  words  will  be 
gathered  like  those  of  Washington ,  and  your  children  and  your  children's 
children  shall  be  taught  to  ponder  the  simplicity  and  deep  wisdom  of 
utterances  which  in  their  time  passed,  in  party  heat,  as  idle  worlds.  Men 
will  receive  a  new  impulse  of  patriotism  for  his  sake  and  will  guard  with 
zeal  the  whole  country  which  he  loved  so  well.  I  swear  you,  on  the 
altar  of  his  memory,  to  be  more  faithful  to  the  country  for  which  he  has 
perished.  They  will,  as  they  follow  his  hearse,  swear  a  new  hatred  to 
that  slavery  against  which  he  warred,  and  which,  in  vanquishing  him, 
has  made  him  a  martyr  and  a  conqueror.  I  swear  you,  by  the  memory 
of  this  martyr,  to  hate  slavery  with  an  unappeasable  hatred.  They  will 
admire  and  imitate  the  firmness  of  this  man,  his  inflexible  conscience  for 
the  right,  and  yet  his  gentleness,  as  tender  as  a  woman's,  his  moderation 
of  spirit,  which  not  all  the  heat  of  party  could  inflame^  nor  all  the  jars 

f 


HENRY  WARD  BEECHER  265 

and  disturbances  of  his  country  shake  out  of  place.     I  swear  you  To  an 
emulation  of  his  justice,  his  moderation  and  his  mercy. 

You  I  can  comfort ;  but  how  can  I  speak  to  that  twilight  million  to 
whom  his  name  was  as  the  name  of  an  angel  of  God  ?  There  will  be  wail- 
ing in  places  which  no  minister  shall  be  able  to  reach.  When,  in  hovel 
and  in  cot,  in  wood  and  in  wilderness,  in  the  field  throughout  the  South, 
the  dusky  children,  who  looked  upon  him  as  that  Moses  whom  God  sent 
before  them  to  lead  them  out  of  the  land  of  bondage,  learn  that  he  has 
fallen,  who  shall  comfort  them  ?  O  thou  Shepherd  of  Israel,  that  didst 
comfort  thy  people  of  old,  to  thy  care  we  commit  the  helpless,  the  long- 
wronged  and  grieved. 

And  now  the  martyr  is  moving  in  triumphal  march,  mightier  than 
when  alive.  The  nation  rises  up  at  every  stage  of  his  coming.  Cities 
and  States  are  his  pallbearers,  and  the  cannon  beats  the  hours  with 
solemn  progression.  Dead,  dead,  dead,  he  yet  speaketh.  Is  Washington 
dead  ?  Is  Hampden  dead  ?  Is  David  dead  ?  Is  any  man  that  was  ever 
fit  to  live  dead  ?  Disenthralled  of  flesh,  and  risen  in  the  unobstructed 
sphere  where  passion  never  comes,  he  begins  his  illimitable  work.  His 
life  now  is  grafted  upon  the  infinite,  and  will  be  fruitful  as  no  earthly  life 
can  be.  Pass  on,  thou  that  hast  overcome.  Your  sorrows,  O  people, 
are  his  peace.  Your  bells  and  bands  and  muffled  drums  sound  trium- 
phant in  his  ear.  Wail  and  weep  here  ;  God  made  it  echo  joy  and  triumph 
there.     Pass  on. 

A  CORRUPT  PUBLIC  SENTIMENT 

A  corrupt  public  sentiment  produces  dishonesty.  A  public  sentiment 
in  which  dishonesty  is  not  disgraceful ;  in  which  bad  men  are  respectable, 
are  trusted,  are  honored,  are  exalted,  is  a  curse  to  the  young.  The  fever 
of  speculation,  the  universal  derangement  of  business,  the  growing  laxness 
of  morals  are,  to  an  alarming  extent,  introducing  such  a  state  of  things. 

If  the  shocking  stupidity  of  the  public  mind  to  atrocious  dishonesties 
is  not  aroused  ;  if  good  men  do  not  bestir  themselves  to  drag  the  young 
from  this  foul  sorcery  ;  if  the  relaxed  bands  of  honesty  are  not  tightened, 
and  conscience  tutored  to  a  severer  morality,  our  night  is  at  hand — our 
midnight  not  far  off.  Woe  to  that  guilty  people  who  sit  down  upon 
broken  laws,  and  wealth  saved  by  injustice  !  Woe  to  a  generation  fed  by 
the  bread  of  fraud,  whose  children's  inheritance  shall  be  a  perpetual 
memento  of  their  father's  unrighteousness  ;  to  whom  dishonesty  shall  be 
made  pleasant  by  association  with  the  revered  memories  of  father,  brother 
and  friend  ! 

But  when  a  whole  people,  united  by  a  common  disregard  of  justice, 
conspire  to   defraud   public  creditors,  and  States  vie  with   States  in  an 


266  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 

infamous  repudiation  of  just  debts,  by  open  or  sinister  methods ;  and 
nations  exert  their  sovereignty  to  protect  and  dignify  the  knavery  of  the 
commonwealth,  then  the  confusion  of  domestic  affairs  has  bred  a  fiend 
before  whose  flight  honor  fades  away,  and  under  whose  feet  the  sanctity  of 
truth  and  the  religion  of  solemn  compacts  are  stamped  down  and  ground 
into  the  dirt.  Need  we  ask  the  cause  of  growing  dishonesty  among  the 
young,  the  increasing  untrustworthiness  of  all  agents,  when  States  are 
seen  clothed  with  the  panoply  of  dishonesty,  and  nations  put  on  fraud  for 
their  garments  ? 

Absconding  agents,  swindling  schemes,  and  defalcations,  occurring 
in  such  melancholy  abundance,  have  at  length  ceased  to  be  wonders,  and 
rank  with  the  common  accidents  of  fire  and  flood.  The  budget  of  each 
week  is  incomplete  without  its  mob  and  runaway  cashier — its  duel  and 
defaulter,  and  as  waves  which  roll  to  the  shore  are  lost  in  those  which 
follow  on,  so  the  villainies  of  each  week  obliterate  the  record  of  the  last. 

Men  of  notorious  immorality,  whose  dishonesty  is  flagrant,  whose 
private  habits  would  disgrace  the  ditch,  are  powerful  and  popular.  I  have 
seen  a  man  stained  with  every  sin,  except  those  which  required  courage  ; 
into  whose  head  I  do  not  think  a  pure  thought  has  entered  for  forty  years  ; 
in  whose  heart  an  honorable  feeling  would  droop  from  very  loneliness  ;  in 
evil,  he  was  ripe  and  rotten  ;  hoary  and  depraved  in  deed,  in  word,  in  his 
present  life  and  in  all  his  past ;  evil  when  by  himself,  and  viler  among 
men  ;  corrupting  to  the  young  ;  to  domestic  fidelity,  recreant ;  to  common 
honor,  a  traitor  ;  to  honesty,  an  outlaw  ;  to  religion,  a  hypocrite — base  in 
all  that  is  worthy  of  man  and  accomplished  in  whatever  is  disgraceful, 
and  yet  this  wretch  could  go  where  he  would — enter  good  men's  dwellings 
and  purloin  their  votes.  Men  would  curse  him,  yet  obey  him  ;  hate  him, 
and  assist  him  ;  warn  their  sons  against  him,  and  lead  them  to  the  polls 
for  him.  A  public  sentiment  which  produces  ignominious  knaves  cannot 
breed  honest  men. 

We  have  not  yet  emerged  from  a  period  in  which  debts  were  insecure  ; 
the  debtor  legally  protected  against  the  rights  of  the  creditor  ;  taxes  laid,  [ 
not  by  the  requirements  of  justice,  but  for  political  effect,  and  lowered  to  \ 
a  dishonest  inefficiency,  and  when  thus  diminished,  not  collected ;  the  ,f 
citizens  resisting  their  own  officers  ;  officers  resigning  at  the  bidding  of  the  fi 
electors  ;  the  laws  of  property  paralyzed  ;  bankrupt  laws  built  up,  and  stay-  i; 
laws  unconstitutionally  enacted,  upon  which  the  courts  look  with  aversion,  [j 
yet  fear  to  deny  them  lest  the  wildness  of  popular  opinion  should  roll  back  M 
disdainfully  upon  the  bench  to  despoil  its  dignity  and  prostrate  its  power,  [j 
General  suffering  has  made  us  tolerant  of  general  dishonesty,  and  the  gloom  [] 
of  our  commercial  disaster  threatens  to  becon;e  the  pall  gf  our  morals,  ' 


il 


EDWIN  R  CHAPIN  (J8J4-J880) 

A  GREAT  ADVOCATE  OF  GREAT  THEMES 


as  a  popular  and  eloquent  preacher  Chapin  was  unrivaled  among 
the  ministers  of  Unitarianism,  and  there  were  few  who  sur- 
passed him  among  those  of  any  denomination  in  our  coun- 
try. As  a  public  lecturer  he  was  equally  popular,  being  accounted 
one  of  the  ablest  and  most  attractive  of  this  class.  He  stood  on  a  par 
with  such  famous  speakers  as  Beecher,  Phillips  and  Parker,  and  made 
his  themes  much  the  same — temperance,  abolition,  universal  peace, 
and  the  like.  In  1850  he  was  a  member  of  the  Peace  Convention  at 
Frankfurt-on-the-Main,  and  made  there  a  highly  effective  address.  In 
1848  he  took  charge  of  a  church  in  New  York,  which  grew,  by  suc- 
cessive stages,  from  one  of  modest  size  to  a  great  erection,  capable 
of  holding  the  immense  congregations  that  flocked  to  hear  him.  He 
published  several  volumes  of  sermons  and  other  works,  and  in  1872 
became  editor  of  the  Christian  Leader. 

CHRISTIANITY  THE  GREAT  ELEMENT  OF  REFORM 

[From  Chapin 's  numerous  addresses  we  select  some  brief  passages  as  illustra- 
tions of  his  style  and  eloquent  handling  of  any  subject  touched  by  him.  There  is  an 
element  of  picturesqueness  in  all  he  says,  and  his  delivery  was  so  effective  as  to  give 
him  great  infliience  over  the  minds  of  his  hearers  ] 

The  great  element  of  reform  is  not  born  of  human  wisdom,  it  does 
not  draw  its  life  from  human  organizations.  I  find  it  only  in  Christianity. 
"  Thy  kingdom  come  !  "  There  is  a  sublime  and  pregnant  burden  in  this 
prayer.  It  is  the  aspiration  of  every  sotil  that  goes  forth  in  the  spirit  of 
reform.  For  what  is  the  significance  of  this  prayer  ?  It  is  a  petition  that 
all  holy  influences  would  penetrate  and  subdue  and  dwell  in  the  heart  of 
man,  until  he  shall  think,  and  speak,  and  do  good  from  the  very  neces- 
sity of  his  being.     So  would  the  institutions  of  error  and  wrong  crumble 

267 


268  EDWIN  H.  CHAPIN 

and  pass  away.  So  would  sin  die  out  from  the  earth  ;  and  the  human 
soul,  living  in  harmony  with  the  divine  will,  this  earth  would  become 
like  Heaven.  It  is  too  late  for  the  reformers  to  sneer  at  Christianity  ;  it  is 
foolishness  for  them  to  reject  it.  In  it  are  enshrined  our  faith  in  human 
progress,  our  confidence  in  reform.  It  is  indissolubly  connected  with  all 
that  is  hopeful,  spiritual,  capable,  in  man.  That  men  have  misunder- 
stood it  and  perverted  it  is  true.  But  it  is  also  true  that  the  noblest 
efforts  for  human  amelioration  have  come  out  of  it ;  have  been  based 
upon  it.  Is  it  not  so  ?  Come,  ye  remembered  ones,  who  sleep  the  sleep 
of  the  just ;  who  took  your  conduct  from  the  line  of  Christian  philosophy  ; 
come  from  your  tomb,  and  answer  ! 

Come,  Howard,  from  the  gloom  of  the  prison  and  the  taint  of  the 
lazar  house,  and  show  us  what  philanthropy  can  do  when  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  Jesus.  Come,  Eliot,  from  the  thick  forest  where  the  red  man 
listens  to  the  Word  of  Life.  Come,  Penn,  from  thy  sweet  counsel  and 
weaponless  victory,  and  show  us  what  Christian  zeal  and  Christian  love 
can  accomplish  with  the  rudest  barbarians  or  the  fiercest  hearts.  Come, 
Raikes,  from  thy  labors  with  the  ignorant  and  the  poor,  and  show  us  with 
what  an  eye  this  faith  regards  the  lowest  and  least  of  our  race  ;  and  how 
diligently  it  labors, — not  for  the  body,  not  for  the  rank,  but  for  the  plastic 
soul  that  is  to  course  the  ages  of  immortality.  And  ye,  who  are  a  great 
number, — ye  nameless  ones  who  have  done  good  in  your  narrow  spheres, 
content  to  forego  renown  on  earth  and  seeking  your  record  in  the  Record 
on  High, — come  and  tell  us  how  kindly  a  spirit,  how  lofty  a  purpose,  or 
how  strong  a  courage  the  religion  ye  profess  can  breathe  into  the  poor, 
the  humble,  and  the  weak.  Go  forth,  then,  spirit  of  Christianity,  to  thy 
great  work  of  reform  !  The  past  bears  witness  to  thee  in  the  blood  of  thy 
martyrs,  and  the  ashes  of  thy  saints  and  heroes  ;  the  present  is  hopeful 
because  of  thee  ;  the  future  shall  acknowledge  thy  omnipotence. 

THE  TRIUMPHS  OF  LABOR 

Who  can  adequately  describe  the  triumphs  of  labor,  urged  on  by  the 
potent  spell  of  money  ?  It  has  extorted  the  secrets  of  the  universe  and 
trained  its  forms  into  myriads  of  powers  of  use  and  beauty.  From  the 
bosom  of  the  old  creation  it  has  developed  anew  the  creation  of  industry 
and  art.  It  has  been  its  task  and  its  glory  to  overcome  obstacles.  Moun- 
tains have  been  leveled  and  valleys  have  been  exalted  before  it.  It  has 
broken  the  rocky  soil  into  fertile  glades  ;  it  has  crowned  the  hill  tops  with 
verdure,  and  bound  round  the  very  feet  of  ocean  ridges  of  golden  corn. 
Up  from  the  sunless  and  hoary  deeps,  up  from  the  shapeless  quarry,  it 
drags  its  spotless  marbles  and  rears  its  palaces  of  pomp.     It  steals  the 


H 


EDWm  H.  CMAPIN  269 

stubborn  metals  from  the  bowels  of  the  globe,  and  makes  them  ductile  to 
its  will.  It  marches  steadily  on  over  the  swelling  flood  and  through  the 
mountain  clefts.  It  fans  its  way  through  the  winds  of  ocean,  tramples 
them  in  its  course,  surges  and  mingles  them  with  flames  of  fire.  Civiliza- 
tion follows  in  its  path.  It  achieves  grander  victories,  it  weaves  more 
durable  trophies,  it  holds  wider  sway  than  the  conqueror.  His  name 
becomes  tainted  and  his  monuments  crumble ;  but  labor  converts  his 
red  battlefields  into  gardens  and  erects  monuments  significant  of  better 
things.  It  rides  in  a  chariot  driven  by  the  wind.  It  writes  with  the 
lightning.  It  sits  crowned  as  a  queen  in  a  thousand  cities,  and  sends  up 
its  roar  of  triumph  from  a  million  wheels.  It  glistens  in  the  fabric  of  the 
loom  ;  it  rings  and  sparkles  in  the  steely  hammer  ;  it  glories  in  the  shapes 
of  beauty  ;  it  speaks  in  words  of  power  ;  it  makes  the  sinewy  arm  strong 
with  liberty,  the  poor  man's  heart  rich  with  content,  crowns  the  swarthy 
and  sweat  J'-  brow  with  honor,  and  dignity,  and  peace. 

THE  HANDWRITING  ON  T^E  WALL 

Nature  is  republican.  The  discoveries  of  Science  are  republican. 
Sir,  what  are  these  new  forces,  steam  and  electricity,  but  powers  that  are 
leveling  all  factitious  distinctions  and  forcing  the  world  on  to  a  noble  des- 
tiny ?  Have  they  not  already  propelled  the  nineteenth  century  a  thousand 
years  ahead  ?  What  are  they  but  the  servitors  of  the  people,  and  not  of 
a  class  ?  Does  not  the  poor  man  of  to-day  ride  in  a  car  dragged  by  forces 
such  as  never  waited  on  kings,  or  drove  the  wheels  of  triumphal  chariots  ? 
Does  he  not  yoke  the  lightning,  and  touch  the  magnetic  nerves  of  the 
world  !  The  steam  engine  is  a  democrat.  It  is  the  popular  heart  that 
throbs  in  its  iron  pulses.  And  the  electric  telegraph  writes  upon  the 
walls  of  despotism,  menimeni  tekel  upharsin  I 


PHILLIPS  BROOKS  (18354893) 

BOSTON'S  EMINENT  BISHOP-ORATOR 


mN  a  high  rank  among  America's  eminent  ecclesiastical  orators 
must  be  placed  Phillips  Brooks,  who  for  ten  years  was  one  of 
Philadelphia's  favorite  speakers,  and  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century  preached  the  Gospel  to  highly  appreciative  audiences  in  Bos- 
ton. For  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  he  was  the  Episcopal  Bishop 
of  Massachusetts.  Brooks  had  not  the  wide-spread  popularity  of 
Beecher.  He  lacked  the  strongly  emotional  spirit,  the  raciness,  and 
verbal  originality  to  which  the  latter  owed  much  of  his  effect  on  the 
public,  yet  he  was  one  of  the  most  admired  pulpit  orators  of  the  coun- 
try during  the  greater  part  of  his  career.  He  was  more  polished  in 
style  than  Beecher,  his  language  of  striking  simplicity  yet  always 
artistic  in  treatment ;  a  man  of  restrained  force  yet  of  earnest  senti- 
ment and  elevated  thought. 

^  THE  EVIL  THAT  MEN  DO  LIVES  AFTER  THEM  *' 

[Phillips  Brooks  did  not  win  fame  as  a  great  secular  orator,  as  Beecher  did. 
His  eminence  was  won  in  the  pulpit,  and  confined  to  the  pulpit.  We  give  an  exam- 
ple of  his  pulpit  oratory  in  which  is  shown  at  once  his  simplicity  of  style,  and  the 
cumulative  power  by  which  he  made  his  thoughts  effective,  and  held  his  audiences  in 
rapt  attention.] 

Tell  me  you  have  a  sin  that  you  mean  to  commit  this  evening  that 
is  going  to  make  this  night  black;'  What  can  keep  you  from  commit- 
ting that  sin  ?  Suppose  you  look  into  its  consequences.  Suppose  the 
wise  man  tells  you  what  will  be  the  physical  consequences  of  that  sin. 
You  shudder  and  you  shrink,  and  perhaps  you  are  partially  deterred. 
Suppose  you  see  the  glory  that  might  come  to  you,  physical,  temporal, 
spiritual,  if  you  do  not  commit  that  sin.  The  opposite  of  it  shows  itself 
to  you — the  blessing  and  the  richness  in  your  life.  Again  there  comes  a 
270 


i 


PHILLIPS  BROOKS  271 

great  power  that  shall  control  your  lust  and  wickedness.  Suppose  there 
comes  to  you  something  even  deeper  than  that,  no  consequence  on  con- 
science at  all,  but  simply  an  abhorrence  for  the  thing,  so  that  your  whole 
nature  shrinks  from  it  as  the  nature  of  God  shrinks  from  a  sin  that  is  pol- 
luting, and  filthy  and  corrupt  and  evil. 

They  are  all  great  powers.  Let  us  thank  God  for  them  all.  He 
knows  that  we  are  weak  enough  to  need  every  power  that  can  possibly  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  our  feeble  lives  ;  but  if,  along  with  all  of  them, 
there  could  come  this  other  power,  if  along  with  them  there  could  come 
the  certainty  that  if  you  refrain  from  that  sin  to-night  you  make  the  sum 
of  sin  that  is  in  the  world,  and  so  the  sum  of  future  evil  that  is  to  spring 
out  of  temptation  in  the  world,  less,  shall  there  not  be  a  nobler  impulse  rise 
up  in  your  heart,  and  shall  you  not  say  :  "  I  will  not  do  it ;  I  will  be 
honest,  I  will  be  sober,  I  will  be  pure,  at  least,  to-night  ?  "  I  dare  to  think 
that  there  are  men  here  to  whom  that  appeal  can  come,  men  who,  perhaps, 
will  be  all  dull  and  deaf  if  one  speaks  to  them  about  their  personal  salva- 
tion ;  who,  if  one  dares  to  picture  to  them,  appealing  to  their  better  nature, 
trusting  to  their  nobler  soul,  and  there  is  in  them  the  power  to  save  other 
men  from  sin,  and  to  help  the  work  of  God  by  the  control  of  their  own 
passions  and  the  fulfillment  of  their  own  duty,  will  be  stirred  to  the  higher 
life.  Men — very  often  we  do  not  trust  them  enough — will  answer  to  the 
higher  appeal  that  seems  to  be  beyond  them  when  the  poor,  lower  appeal 
that  comes  within  the  region  of  their  selfishness  is  cast  aside,  and  they  will 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

Oh,  this  marvelous,  this  awful  power  that  we  have  over  other  peo- 
ple's lives  !  Oh,  the  power  of  the  sin  that  you  have  done  years  and  years 
ago  !  It  is  awful  to  think  of  it.  I  think  there  is  hardly  anything  more 
terrible  to  the  human  thought  than  this — the  picture  of  a  man  who,  hav- 
ing sinned  years  and  years  ago  in  a  way  that  involved  other  souls  in  his 
sin,  and  then,  having  repented  of  his  sin  and  undertaken  another  life, 
knows  certainly  that  the  power,  the  consequence  of  that  sin  is  going  on 
outside  of  his  reach,  beyond  even  his  ken  and  knowledge.  He  cannot 
touch  it. 

You  wronged  a  soul  ten  years  ago.  You  taught  a  boy  how  to  tell  his 
first  mercantile  lie  ;  you  degraded  the  early  standards  of  his  youth. 
What  has  become  of  that  boy  to-day  ?  You  may  have  repented.  He  has 
passed  out  of  your  sight.  He  has  gone  years  and  years  ago.  Somewhere 
in  this  great,  multitudinous  mass  of  humanity  he  is  sinning  and  sinning, 
and  reduplicating  and  extending  the  sin  that  you  did.  You  touched  the 
faith  of  some  believing  soul  years  ago  with  some  miserable  sneer  of  yours, 
with  some  cynical  and  skeptical  disparagement  of  God  and  of  the  man 


272  PHILLIPS  BROOKS 

who  is  the  utterance  of  God  upon  the  earth.  You  taught  the  soul  that 
was  enthusiastic  to  be  full  of  skepticisms  and  doubts.  You  wronged  a 
woman  years  ago,  and  her  life  has  gone  out  from  your  life,  you  cannot 
begin  to  tell  where.  You  have  repented  of  your  sin.  You  have  bowed 
yourself,  it  may  be,  in  dust  and  ashes.  You  have  entered  upon  a  new 
life.  You  are  pure  to-day.  But  where  is  the  skeptical  soul  ?  Where  is 
the  ruined  woman  whom  you  sent  forth  into  the  world  out  of  the  shadow 
of  your  sin  years  ago  ?  You  cannot  touch  that  life.  You  cannot  reach 
it.  You  do  not  know  where  it  is.  No  steps  of  yours,  quickened  with  all 
your  earnestness,  can  pursue  it.  No  contrition  of  yours  can  draw  back 
its  consequences.  Remorse  cannot  force  the  bullet  back  into  the  gun 
from  which  it  once  has  gone  forth. 

It  makes  life  awful  to  the  man  who  has  ever  sinned,  who  has  ever 
wronged  and  hurt  another  life  because  of  this  sin,  because  no  sin  was  ever 
done  that  did  not  hurt  another  life.  I  know  the  mercy  of  our  God,  that 
while  He  has  put  us  into  each  other's  power  to  a  fearful  extent.  He  never 
will  let  any  soul  absolutely  go  to  everlasting  ruin  for  another's  sin  ;  and 
so  I  dare  to  see  the  love  of  God  pursuing  that  lost  soul  where  you  cannot 
pursue  it.  But  that  does  not  for  one  moment  lift  the  shadow  from  your 
heart,  or  cease  to  make  you  tremble  when  you  think  of  how  your  sin 
has  outgrown  itself  and  is  running  far,  far  away  where  you  can  never 
follow  it. 

Thank  God  the  other  living  thing  is  true  as  well.  Thank  God  that 
when  a  man  does  a  bit  of  service,  however  little  it  may  be,  of  that,  too,  he  can 
never  trace  the  consequences.  Thank  God  that  that  which  in  some  better 
moment,  in  some  nobler  inspiration,  you  did  ten  years  ago,  to  make  your 
brother's  faith  a  little  more  strong,  to  let  your  shop-boy  confirm  and  not  I 
doubt  the  confidence  in  man  which  he  had  brought  into  his  business,  to 
establish  the  purity  of  a  soul  instead  of  staining  it  and  shaking  it,  thank 
God,  in  this  quick,  electric  atmosphere  in  which  we  live,  that,  too,  runs 
forth. 


I 


WILLIAM  a  BROWNLOW  (t  805- J  877) 

THE  HGHTING  PARSON  OF  TENNESSEE 


mENNESSEE  can  boast  of  two  citizens  who  were  among  the 
most  remarkable  products  of  our  frontier  civilization — David 
Crockett,  the  great  hunter,  and  William  G.  Brownlow,  the 
fighting  parson.  For  energy  and  aggressiveness  Brownlow  was 
unsurpassed  among  our  pioneer  population.  A  Methodist  minister  in 
his  early  life,  he  became  editor  of  a  Knoxville  paper,  and  with  pen 
and  voice  made  himself  a  power  in  that  sention  of  the  South.  Though 
opposed  to  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  outbreak  of  war  found  him  an 
uncompromising  adherent  ol  the  old  flag,  which  he  kept  flying  over 
his  house  in  defiance  of  all  threats  to  pull  it  down.  He  was  impris- 
oned for  several  months  by  the  secessionists,  but  his  voice  could  not 
be  hushed,  though  it  was  raised  in  unrestrained  energy  in  favor  of 
the  North  and  the  Union.  After  the  war  he  was  for  two  terms  gov- 
ernor of  Tennessee,  and  later  on  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States. 

THE  UNION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION 

[The  brief  extract  here  given  is  taken  from  a  speech  of  Mr.  Brownlow  delivered 
in  a  debate  in  Philadelphia  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Prynne.  No  abolitionist  of  the  North 
could  have  shown  a  more  ardent  love  for  and  belief  in  the  Union  than  this  anti-abo- 
litionist of  the  mountains  of  Tennessee.  ] 

Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  the  American  Union  ?     Proud,  happy, 

I  thrice-happy  America  !    The  home  of  the  oppressed,  the  asylum  of  the  eini 

'!  grant  !  where  the  citizen  of  every  clime,  and  the  child  of  every  creed,  roam 

free  and  untrammelled  as  the  wild  winds  of  heaven  !     Baptized  at  the 

fount  of  Liberty  in  fire  and  blood,  cold  must  be  the  heart  that  thril  s  not 

at  the  name  of  the  American  Union  ! 

When  the  Old  World,  with  "all  its  pomp,  and  pride,  and  circurri- 
stance, ' '  shall  be  covered  with  oblivion, — when  thrones  shall  have  crumbled 
18  273 


274  WILLIAM  G.  BROWNLOW 

and  dynasties  shall  have  been  forgotten, — may  this  glorious  Union, 
despite  the  mad  schemes  of  Southern  fire-eaters  and  Northern  abolition- 
ists, stand  amid  regal  ruin  and  national  desolation,  towering  sublime,  like 
the  last  mountain  in  the  Deluge — majestic,  immutable,  and  magnificent ! 
In  pursuance  of  this,  let  every  conservative  Northern  man,  who  loves 
his  country  and  her  institutions,  shake  ofi"  the  trammels  of  Northern  fanati- 
cism, and  swear  upon  the  altar  of  his  country  that  he  will  stand  by  her 
Constitution  and  laws.  Let  every  Southern  man  shake  off  the  trammels 
of  disunion  and  nullification,  and  pledge  his  life  and  his  sacred  honor  to 
stand  by  the  Constitution  of  his  country  as  it  is,  the  laws  as  enacted  by 
Congress  and  interpreted  by  the  Supreme  Court.  Then  we  shall  see  every 
heart  a  shield,  and  a  drawn  sword  in  every  hand,  to  preserve  the  ark  of 
our  political  safety  !  Then  we  shall  see  reared  a  fabric  upon  our  National 
Constitution  which  time  cannot  crumble,  persecution  shake,  fanaticism 
disturb,  nor  revolution  change,  but  which  shall  stand  among  us  like  some 
lofty  and  stupendous  Apennine,  while  the  earth  rocks  at  its  feet,  and  the 
thunder  peals  above  its  head  ! 


iTRIBULATIONS  IN  TENNESSEE 

[The  following  remarks  were  made  by  Parson  Brownlow  at  Nashville  in  1862 
They  tell  their  own  story,  and  give  in  plain  language  the  fighting  Parson's  opinion  o 
the  secessionists.] 


\ 


Gentlemen  :  Last  December  I  was  thrust  into  an  uncomfortable  and 
disagreeable  jail, — for  what?  Treaso7i !  Treason  to  the  bogus  Confed 
eracy  ;  and  the  proofs  of  that  treason  were  articles  which  appeared  in  th 
Knoxville  Whig  in  May  last,  when  the  State  of  Tennessee  was  a  member 
of  the  imperishable  Union.  At  the  expiration  of  four  weeks  I  became  a 
victim  of  the  typhoid  fever,  and  was  removed  to  a  room  in  a  decent  dwell- 
ing, and  a  guard  of  seven  men  kept  me  company.  I  subsequently  became 
so  weak  that  I  could  not  turn  over  in  my  bed,  and  the  guard  was  increased 
to  twelve  men,  for  fear  I  should  suddenly  recover  and  run  away  to  Ken- 
tucky. But  I  never  had  any  intention  to  run ;  and  if  I  had  I  was  not 
able  to  escape.  My  purpose  was  to  make  them  send  me  out  of  this  infamous 
government,  according  to  contract,  or  to  hang  me,  if  they  thought  proper. 
I  was  promised  passports  by  their  Secretary  of  War,  a  little  Jew,  late  of 
New  Orleans ;  and  upon  the  faith  of  that  promise,  and  upon  the  invita- 
tion of  General  Crittenden,  then  in  command  at  Knoxville,  I  reported 
myself  and  demanded  my  passports.  They  gave  me  passports,  but  they 
were  from  my  house  to  the  Knoxville  jail,  and  the  escort  was  a  deputy- 
marshal  of  Jeff  Davis.  But  I  served  my  time  out,  and  have  been  landed 
here  at  last,  through  much  tribulation. 


t 


I 


WILLIAM  G.  BROWNLOW  275 

When  I  started  on  this  perilous  journey  I  was  sore  distressed  both  in 
mind  and  body,  being  weak  from  disease  and  confinement.  I  expected  to 
meet  with  insults  and  indignities  at  every  point  from  the  blackguard 
portion  of  the  rebel  soldiers  and  citizens,  and  in  this  I  was  not  disap- 
pointed. It  was  fortunate,  indeed,  that  I  was  not  mobbed.  This  would 
have  been  done  but  for  the  vigilance  and  fidelity  of  the  officers  having  me 
in  charge.  These  were  Adjutant -General  Young  and  I^ieutenant  O'Brien, 
clever  men,  high  minded  and  honorable  ;  and  they  were  of  my  own  selec- 
tion. They  had  so  long  been  Union  men  that  I  felt  assured  they  had  not 
lost  the  instincts  of  gentlemen  and  patriots,  afflicted  as  they  were  with  the 
incurable  disease  of  secession. 

But,  gentlemen,  some  three  or  four  days  ago  I  landed  in  this  city,  as 
you  are  aware.  Five  miles  distant  I  encountered  the  Federal  pickets. 
Then  it  was  that  I  felt  like  a  new  man.  My  depression  ceased,  and 
returning  life  and  health  seemed  suddenly  to  invigorate  my  system  and  to 
arouse  my  physical  constitution .  I  had  been  looking  at  soldiers  in  uniform 
for  twelve  months,  and  to  me  they  appeared  as  hateful  as  their  Confeder- 
acy and  their  infamous  flag.  But  these  Federal  pickets,  who  received 
me  kindly  and  shook  me  cordially  by  the  hand,  looked  like  angels  of 
light 

Gentlemen,  I  am  no  abolitionist ;  I  applaud  no  sectional  doctrines. 
I  am  a  Southern  man,  and  all  my  relatives  and  interests  are  thoroughly 
identified  with  the  South  and  Southern  institutions.  I  was  born  in  the 
Old  Dominion ;  my  parents  were  born  in  Virginia,  and  they  and  their 
ancestors  were  all  slaveholders.  Let  me  assure  you  that  the  South  has 
suffered  no  infringement  upon  her  institutions  ;  the  slavery  question  was 
actually  no  pretext  for  this  unholy,  unrighteous  conflict.  Twelve  Senators 
from  the  Cotton  States,  who  had  sworn  to  preserve  inviolate  the  Constitu- 
tion framed  by  our  forefathers,  plotted  treason  at  night — a  fit  time  for  such 
a  crime — and  telegraphed  to  their  States  despatches  advising  them  to  pass 
ordinances  of  secession.  Yes,  gentlemen,  twelve  Senators  swore  allegi- 
ance in  the  daytime,  and  unswore  it  at  night. 


ROBERT  COLLYER  (J 823 ) 

THE  BLACKSMITH  EXPOUNDER  OF  THE  GOSPEL 


FIFTY  years  or  more  ago  a  country  blacksmith,  working  at  his 
trade  in  a  rural  district  in  Pennsylvania,  surprised  those  who 
^"^  knew  him  by  unusual  powers  of  natural  eloquence.  A  man 
of  devout  feelings,  he  exhorted  his  neighborhood  audiences  to  a  Chris- 
tian life.  Some  of  his  hearers,  desirous  that  his  eloquence  should  have 
a  better  opportunity,  aided  him  in  the  study  of  theology,  and  he  be- 
came a  Methodist  preacher  while  still  working  at  his  trade.  Robert, 
Collyer,  the  person  in  question,  was  of  English  birth,  and  had  learned 
the  blacksmith  trade  there  in  his  youth.  He  was  not  long  in  America] 
before  the  forge  was  abandoned  for  the  pulpit,  in  which  he  proved 
himself  as  good  a  preacher  as  he  had  been  a  blacksmith.  He  did  not 
long  continue  a  Methodist,  however,  but  adopted  Unitarianism,  and 
from  1859  to  1879  was  pastor  of  a  Unitarian  church  in  Chicago.  Sincej 
the  latter  date  he  has  had  the  pastoral  care  of  a  church  in  New  York, 
Mr.  Collyer  is  an  orator  of  much  eloquence  and  ability,  and  alike  as 
preacher  and  lecturer  is  highly  esteemed  in  his  adopted  country. 

STOPPING  AT  HARAN 

[The  following  selection  is  from  a  sermon  on  Genesis  ix  :  31,  32,  in  which  we 
learn  that  old  Terah,  the  father  of  Abraham,  setting  out  from  Edessa  to  go  to  Canaan, 
stopped  at  Haran,  and  saw  fit  to  halt  and  spend  the  remainder  of  his  life  there,  instead 
of  pressing  on  to  his  goal.  From  this  stopping  by  the  way.  Dr.  Collyer  draws  some 
useful  lessons,  in  an  eloquent  manner  of  his  own.] 

And  so  this  man's  life  touches  yours  and  mine,  and  opens  out  toward 
some  truths  we  may  well  lay  to  our  hearts,  and  this  is  the  first :  That,  if 
I  want  to  do  a  great  and  good  thing  in  this  world,  of  any  sort,  while  the 
best  of  my  life  lies  still  before  me,  the  sooner  I  set  about  it  the  better. 
For,  while  there  is  always  a  separate  and  special  worth  in  a  good  old  age, 
276 


Samuel  M.   Clemens   ("Mark  Twain")    is  telling  a  story  to 
'     Thomas  B.   Reed,   Rufus  Choate,  Captain  White  and  Andrew 
Carnegie  in  an  after  dinner  speech. 


DISTINGUISHED  AFTER-DINNER  SPEAKERS 

Robert  G  Ingersoll,  great  public  lecturer  ;  Henry  W.  Watterson, 
distinguished  Kentucky  editor;  Henry  Grady,  of  the  New  South  ; 
Fitzhugh  Lee,  statesman  and  orator. 


ROBERT  COLLYER  277 

this  power  is  very  seldom  in  it  I  would  try  to  verify  ;  and  it  is  not  your 
old  Philip,  but  your  young  Alexander,  who  conquers  the  world.  I  can 
remember  no  grand  invention,  no  peerless  reform  in  life  or  religion,  no 
noble  enterprise,  no  superb  stroke  of  any  sort,  that  was  not  started  from 
a  spark  in  our  youth  and  early  manhood.  Once  well  past  that  line,  and 
you  can  dream  of  Canaan  ;  but  the  chances  are  you  will  stop  at  Haran, 
so  this  putting  off  any  great  and  good  adventure  from  your  earlier  to  your 
later  age  is  like  waiting  for  low  water  before  you  launch  your  ship.  If  we 
want  to  make  our  dream  of  a  nobler  and  wider  life  of  any  sort  come  true, 
we  must  push  on  while  the  fresh  strong  powers  are  in  us,  which  are  more 
than  half  the  battle.  The  whole  wealth  of  real  enterprise  belongs  to  our 
youth  and  earlier  manhood.  It  is  then  that  we  get  our  chance  of  rising 
from  a  collective  mediocrity  into  some  sort  of  distinct  nobility.  We  may 
be  ever  so  sincere  after  this,  as  far  as  we  can  go  ;  but  we  shall  go  only  to 
Haran.  Yes,  and  we  may  have  a  splendid  vision,  as  when  this  man  saw 
Hermon  and  Sharon  and  the  sea  in  his  mind's  eye  as  he  sat  in  his  chair  ; 
and  a  noble  and  good  intention,  as  when  he  started  for  the  mountains,  and 
halted  on  the  plain  ;  but  just  this  is  what  will  befall  us  also  if  we  are  not 
true  to  this  holy  law  of  our  life. 

This  is  my  first  thought ;  and  my  second  must  take  the  form  of  a  plea 
to  those  who  do  strike  out  to  do  grand  and  good  things  in  this  world,  and 
do  not  halt,  but  march  right  on,  and  then  nourish  a  certain  contempt  for 
those  who  still  lag  behind.  The  chances  are,  it  is  because  they  begin  too 
late,  that  they  end  too  soon  ;  and  it  is  no  small  matter  that  they  begin  at 
all.  For  myself,  I  can  only  blame  them  when,  with  the  vision  of  a  nobler 
life  haunting  the  heart,  they  tell  me  that  Haran  is  good  enough  for  any- 
body, and  we  need  none  of  us  look  for  anything  better.  If  they  know  all 
the  while,  as  this  man  knew,  that  the  land  of  promise  still  lies  beyond  the 
line  at  which  they  have  halted,  and  will  say  so  frankly,  though  they  may 
go  only  the  one  day's  march,  I  can  still  bare  my  head  in  reverence  before 
such  men. 

I  know  what  it  is  to  leave  these  Hdessas  of  our  life,  and  what  it  costs; 
how  the  old  homes  and  altars  still  have  the  pull  on  you,  and  the  shadows 
of  the  palm-trees,  and  the  well  at  which  you  have  drunk  so  long,  and 
what  loving  arms  twine  about  you  to  hold  you  back  from  even  the  one 
day's  march.  So,  when  I  hear  those  blamed  who  stop  short  still  of  where 
I  think  they  ought  to  be,  I  want  to  say,  have  you  any  idea  of  what  it  has 
cost  them  to  go  as  far  as  that,  and  whether  it  was  possible  for  them  to  go 
any  farther  ?  And  then ,  is  it  not  a  good  thing  anyhow  to  take  those  who 
jbelong  to  them  the  one  day's  march  and,  setting  their  faces  toward  the 
^reat  fair  land  of  promise,  leave  God  to  see  to  it,  that  this  which  may  be 


278  ROBERT  COLLYER 

more  than  an  impulse  in  the  man  who  has  to  halt,  may  grow  again  to  a 
great  inspiration  in  the  son  of  his  spirit  and  life  who  goes  right  on  ? 

And  this,  I  think,  is  what  we  may  count  on  in  every  honest  endeavor 
after  a  wider  and  better  life.  So  I  like  the  suggestion  that  the  way  the 
eagle  got  his  wings,  and  went  soaring  up  towards  the  sun,  grew  out  of  the 
impulse  to  soar.  That  the  wings  did  not  precede  the  desire  to  fly,  but  the 
desire  to  fly  preceded  the  wings.  Something  within  the  creature  whisp- 
ered :  '*  Get  up  there  into  the  blue  heavens;  don't  be  content  to  crawl 
down  in  the  marsh.  Out  with  you  !  "  And  so,  somehow,  through  what 
would  seem  to  us  to  be  an  eternity  of  trying — so  long  it  was  between  the 
first  of  the  kind  that  felt  the  impulse,  and  the  one  that  really  did  the  thing — 
done  it  was  at  last,  in  despite  of  the  very  law  of  gravitation,  as  well  as  by 
it ;  and  there  he  was,  as  I  have  seen  him,  soaring  over  the  blue  summits, 
screaming  out  his  delight,  and  spreading  his  pinions  twelve  feet,  they  say, 
from  tip  to  tip. 

I  like  the  suggestion,  because  it  is  so  true  to  the  life  we  also  have  to 
live — trying  and  failing  ;  setting  out  for  Canaan,  and  stopping  at  Haran  ; 
intending  great  things,  and  doing  little  things,  many  of  us,  after  all.  li 
tell  you  again,  the  good  intention  goes  to  pave  the  way  to  Heaven,  if  it  bej 
an  honest  and  true  intention.  There  is  a  pin-feather  of  the  eagle's  win^ 
started  somewhere  in  our  starting — a  soaring  which  goes  far  beyond  ourl 
stopping.  We  may  only  get  to  the  edge  of  the  slough,  but  those  who] 
come  after  us  will  soar  far  up  toward  the  sun. 

So  let  me  end  with  a  word  of  cheer.     The  Moslem  says  :  "  God  loved 
Abdallah  so  well  that  He  would  not  let  him  attain  to  that  he  most  deeply 
desired."     And  Coleridge  says  :  "  I  am  like  the  ostrich  :  I  cannot  fly,  yet; 
I  have  wings  that  give  me  the  feeling  of  flight.     I  am  only  a  bird  of  the' 
earth,  but  still  a  bird."     And  Robertson,  of  ;^righton,  saj^s  :  "  Man's  true 
destiny  is  to  be  not  dissatisfied,  but  forever  unsatisfied." 

And  you  may  set  out  even  in  your  youth,  therefore,  with  this  high 
purpose  in  you  I  have  tried  to  touch.  You  will  make  your  way  to  a  good 
place,  to  a  wider  and  more  gracious  life  ;  do  a  great  day's  work  ;  rise  above 
all  mediocrity  into  a  distinct  nobility;  find  some  day  that,  though  you 
have  done  your  best,  you  have  fallen  far  below  your  dream,  and  the 
Canaan  of  your  heart's  desire  lies  still  in  the  far  distance.  All  great  and 
grand  things  lie  in  the  heart  of  our  strivings. 


T.  DeWITT  TALMAGE  (18324902) 

THE  TRUMPET  BLAST  OF  THE  PULPIT 


mRUMPET  BLASTS  "  is  the  title  given  to  one  of  the  works  of 
selections  from  Talmage's  sermons,  and  it  is  one  which  seems 
well  fitting  to  their  character.  In  popularity  as  an  extem- 
poraneous pulpit  orator  and  lecturer  Talmage  has  had  few  superiors  in 
this  country.  He  was  very  eloquent  in  his  way;  a  way  marked  by 
an  unstinted  fluency  in  words  and  abundant  duplication  in  the  expres- 
sion of  thoughts.  His  popularity  is  shown  in  the  wide  circulation  of 
his  sermons,  which  for  over  thirty  years  were  printed  weekly  in  many 
hundreds  of  newspapers,  so  that  his  preaching  reached  an  immense 
audience.  After  holding  various  Dutch  Reformed  pastorates,  he  be- 
came pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  in  Brooklyn  in  1869,  and  in 
1894  transferred  his  scene  of  labor  to  Washington. 

THE  UPPER  FORCES  IN  AMERICAN  HISTORY 
[From  Talmage's  very  numerous  sermons,  we  select  a  passage  in  which  he  elo- 
quently points  out  how  the  divine  energies  appear  to  have  wrought  for  good  in  Ameri- 
can history,  raising  up  men  and  moulding  events  for  the  best  results  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  United  States.] 

As  it  cost  England  many  regiments  and  two  millions  of  dollars  a  year 
to  keep  safely  a  troublesome  captive  at  St.  Helena,  so  the  King  of  Assyria 
sent  out  a  whole. army  to  capture  one  minister  of  religion — the  God-fear- 
ing prophet  Elisha.  During  the  night  the  army  of  the  Assyrians  sur- 
tj  rounded  the  village  of  Dothan,  where  the  prophet  was  staying,  and  at 
early  daybreak  his  man-servant  rushed  in,  exclaiming,  "  What  shall  we 
do  ?  A  whole  army  has  come  to  destroy  you  !  We  must  die  !  Alas,  we 
must  die  !  "  But  Elisha  was  not  frightened,  for  he  looked  up  &nd  saw  that 
the  mountains  all  around  were  full  of  supernatural  forces,  and  he  knew 
that  though  there  might  be  50,000  Assyrians  against  him,  there  were  100,- 
000  angels  for  him.     In  answer  to  the  prophet's  prayer  in  behalf  of  his 

279 


280  T.  DEWITT  TALMAGE 

affrighted  man-servant,  the  young  man  saw  it  too  ;  for  '*  the  Lord  opened 
the  eyes  of  the  young  man  ;  and  he  saw  :  and,  behold,  the  mountains 
were  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about  Elish a."  .    .    .    . 

How  do  I  know  that  this  divine  equipage  is  on  the  side  of  our  insti- 
tutions ?  I  know  it  by  the  history  of  the  last  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
years.  The  American  Revolution  started  from  the  hand  of  John  Hancock 
in  Independence  Hall,  in  1776.  On  one  side  were  the  colonies,  without 
ships,  without  ammunition,  without  guns,  without  trained  warriors,  with- 
out money,  without  prestige  ;  on  the  other  side  were  the  mightiest  nation 
of  the  earth,  the  largest  armies,  the  grandest  navies,  and  the  most  distin- 
guished commanders,  with  resources  almost  inexhaustible,  and  with  nearly 
all  nations  to  back  them  up  in  the  fight.     Nothing  against  immensity. 

The  cause  of  the  American  colonies,  which  started  at  zero,  dropped 
still  lower  through  the  quarreling  of  the  generals,  and  through  their  petty 
jealousies,  and  through  the  violence  of  the  winters,  which  surpassed  all 
their  predecessors  in  depths  of  snow  and  horrors  of  congealment.  Klisha, 
when  surrounded  by  the  whole  Assyrian  army,  did  not  seem  to  be  worse 
off  than  did  the  thirteen  colonies  thus  encompassed  and  overshadowed  by 
foreign  assault.  What  decided  the  contest  in  our  favor?  The  upper 
forces,  the  upper  armies.  The  Green  and  the  White  Mountains  of  New 
England,  the  Highlands  along  the  Hudson,  the  mountains  of  Virginia, 
all  the  Appalachian  ranges,  were  filled  with  reinforcements  which  the 
young  man  Washington  saw  by  faith ;  and  his  men  endured  the  frozen 
feet,  the  gangrened  wounds,  the  exhausting  hunger  and  the  long  march, 
because  "  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man  ;  and  he  saw  :  and, 
behold,  the  mountains  were  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about 
Elisha.'-' 

Washington  himself  was  a  miracle.  What  Joshua  was  in  sacred  his- 
tory the  first  American  President  was  in  secular  history.  A  thousand 
other  men  excelled  him  in  special  powers,  but  he  excelled  them  all  in 
roundness  and  completeness  of  character.  The  world  never  saw  his  like, 
and  probably  will  never  see  his  like  again,  because  there  will  never  be 
another  such  exigency.  He  was  sent  down  by  a  divine  interposition.  He 
was  from  God  direct.  I  cannot  comprehend  how  any  man  can  read  the 
history  of  those  times  without  admitting  that  the  contest  was  decided  by 
the  upper  forces.  mM 

Again,  in  1861,  when  our  Civil  War  opened,  many  at  the  North  an^^ 
at  the  South  pronounced  it  national  suicide.     It  was  not  courage  against 
cowardice,   it  was  not  wealth   against  poverty,  it  was  not  large  States 
against  small  States.     It  was  heroism  against  heroism,  the  resources  of 
many  generations  against  the  resources  of  many  generations,  the  prayer 


i 


T.  DEWITT  TALMAGE  281 

of  the  North  against  the  prayer  of  the  South,  one-half  of  the  nation  in 
armed  wrath  meeting  the  other  half  of  the  nation  in  armed  indignation. 
What  could  come  but  extermination  ? 

At  the  opening  of  the  war  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  United 
States  forces  was  a  man  who  had  served  long  in  battle,  but  old  age  had 
come,  with  its  many  infirmities,  and  he  had  a  right  to  repose.  He  could 
not  mount  a  horse,  and  he  rode  to  the  battlefield  in  a  carriage,  asking  the 
driver  not  to  jolt  too  much.  During  the  most  of  the  four  years  of  the 
contest  the  commander  on  the  Southern  side  was  a  man  in  midlife,  who 
had  in  his  veins  the  blood  of  many  generations  of  warriors,  himself  one 
of  the  heroes  of  Cherubusco  and  Cerro  Gordo,  Contreras  and  Chapultepec. 
As  the  years  rolled  on  and  the  scroll  of  carnage  unrolled,  there  came  out 
from  both  sides  a  heroism  and  a  strength  and  a  determination  that  the 
world  had  never  seen  surpassed.  What  but  extermination  could  come 
where  Philip  Sheridan  and  Stonewall  Jackson  led  their  brigades,  and 
Nathaniel  Lyon  and  Sydney  Johnston  rode  in  from  the  North  and  South, 
and  Grant  and  Lee,  the  two  thunderbolts  of  battle,  clashed  ?  Yet  we  are 
still  a  nation,  and  we  are  at  peace.  Earthly  courage  did  not  decide 
the  contest.  It  was  the  upper  forces  that  saved  our  land.  They  tell  us 
that  there  was  a  battle  fought  above  the  clouds  at  Lookout  Mountain  ; 
but  there  was  something  higher  than  that — a  victory  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts. 

Again,  the  horses  and  chariots  of  God  came  to  the  rescue  of  this 
nation  in  1876,  at  the  close  of  a  Presidential  election  famous  for  its  acri- 
mony. A  darker  cloud  still  threatened  to  settle  down  upon  this  nation. 
The  result  of  the  election  was  in  dispute,  and  revolution,  not  between  two 
or  three  sections,  but  revolution  in  every  town  and  village  and  city  of  the 
United  States,  seemed  imminent.  It  looked  as  if  New  York  would  throttle 
New  York  ;  and  New  Orleans  would  grip  New  Orleans  ;  and  Boston, 
Boston  ;  and  Savannah,  Savannah  ;  and  Washington,  Washington.  Some 
said  that  Mr.  Tilden  was  elected  ;  others  said  that  Mr.  Hayes  was  elected  ; 
and  how  near  we  came  to  universal  massacre  some  of  us  guessed,  but  God 
only  knew.  I  ascribe  our  escape  not  to  the  honesty  and  righteousness  of 
infuriated  politicians,  but  I  ascribe  it  to  the  upper  forces,  the  army  of 
divine  rescue.  The  chariot  of  mercy  rolled  in,  and  though  the  wheels 
were  not  heard  and  the  flash  was  not  seen,  yet  through  all  the  mountains 
of  the  North  and  the  South,  and  the  East  and  the  West,  though  the  hoofs 
did  not  clatter,  the  cavalry  of  God  galloped  by.  God  is  the  friend  of  this 
nation.  In  the  awful  excitement  of  the  massacre  of  Lincoln,  where  there 
was  a  prospect  that  greater  slaughter  would  come  upon  us,  God  hushed 
the  tempest.  In  the  awful  excitement  at  the  time  of  Garfield's  assassina- 
tion, God  put  his  foot  on  the  neck  of  the  cyclone. 


HENRY  CODMAN  POTTER  (t835 ) 

THE  ELOQUENT  EPISCOPAL  BISHOP  OF  NEW  YORK 


mHE  Potter  family  is  highly  distinguished  in  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States,  it  having  furnished  three  bishops 
to  that  Church  within  the  nineteenth  century.  These  include 
Alonzo  Potter,  consecrated  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania  in  1845 ;  Horatio 
Potter,  his  brother,  Bishop  of  New  York  in  1861  ;  and  Henry  Cod- 
man  Potter,  his  son,  who  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  New  York  in 
1887.  The  last  named  had  previously  held  various  rectorships,  the 
most  noteworthy  being  at  Grace  Church,  New  York.  He  is  the 
author  of  a  number  of  valuable  works  of  literature,  and  is  a  pulpit 
orator  of  fine  powers  and  high  estimation. 

THE  HEROISM  OF  THE  UNKNOWN 

[As  a  fitting  example  of  the  warmth  and  effectiveness  of  Bishop  Potter's  elo- 
quence, we  give  the  following  extract  from  an  address  made  by  him  at  the  dedication 
of  a  monument  in  commemoration  of  the  men  of  New  York  who  fell  at  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg.  A-fter  speaking  of  ithe  seemingly  inevitable  character  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  the  great  moral  problem  which  it  solved,  he  offered  the  following  tribute  to 
the  unknown  heroes  who  gave  their  lives  at  Gettysburg  in  their  country's  cause.] 

Thirty  5^ars  ago  to-day  these  peaceful  scenes  were  echoing  with  the 
roar  and  din  of  what  a  calm  and  unimpassioned  historian,  writing  of  it  long 
years  afterward,  described  as  the  '  *  greatest  battle-field  of  the  New  World." 
Thirty  years  ago  to-day  the  hearts  of  some  thirty  millions  of  people  turned 
to  this  spot  with  various  but  eager  emotions,  and  watched  here  the  crash 
of  two  armies  which  gathered  in  their  vast  embrace  the  flower  of  a  great 
people.  Never,  so  declared  the  seasoned  soldiers  who  listened  to  the  roar 
of  the  enemy's  artillery,  had  they  heard  anything  that  was  comparable 
with  it.  Now  and  then  it  paused,  as  though  the  very  throats  of  the  mighty 
guns  were  tired  ;  but  only  for  a  little.  Not  for  one  day,  nor  for  two,  but 
for  three,  raged  the  awful  conflict,  while  the  Republic  gave  its  best  life  to 
282 


i 


HENRY  CODMAN  POTTER  ^  283 

redeem  its  honor,  and  the  stain  of  all  previous  blundering  and  faltering 
was  washed  away  forever  with  the  blood  of  its  patriots  and  martyrs.  How 
far  away  it  all  seems,  as  we  stand  here  to-day  !  How  profound  the  con- 
trast between  those  hours  and  days  of  bloodshed  and  the  still  serenity  of 
Nature  as  it  greets  us  now  !  The  graves  that  cluster  around  us  here,  the 
peaceful  resting-places  of  a  nation's  heroes,  are  green  and  fair  ;  and, 
within  them,  they  who  fell  here,  after  life's  fierce  and  fitful  fever,  are 
sleeping  peacefully  the  sleep  of  the  brave 

This  day,  this  service,  and  most  of  all  these  our  heroic  dead,  stand — 
let  us  here  swear  never  to  forget  it — for  the  sanctity  of  law,  for  the  endur- 
ing supremacy  of  just  and  equitable  government,  and  so  for  the  liberties 
of  a  united  and  law-abiding  people. 

What,  now,  is  that  one  feature  in  this  occasion  which  lends  to  it 
supreme  and  most  pathetic  interest  ?  Here  are  tombs  and  memorials  of 
•heroes  whose  names  are  blazoned  upon  them,  and  whose  kindred  and 
friends  have  stood  round  them,  have  recited  their  deeds,  and  have  stood  in 
tender  homage  around  those  forms  which  were  once  to  them  a  living  joy. 

But  for  us  there  is  no  such  privilege,  no  such  tender  individuality  of 
grief.  These  are  our  unknown  dead.  Out  of  whatever  homes  they  came 
we  cannot  tell.  What  were  their  names,  their  lineage,  we  are  ignorant. 
One  thing  only  we  know.  They  wore  our  uniform.  And  that  is  enough 
for  us. 

We  need  to  know  no  more.  From  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  and  the 
St.  lyawrence  ;  from  the  wilds  of  the  Catskills  and  the  Adirondacks  :  from 
the  salt  shores  of  Long  Island  ;  from  the  fresh  lakes  of  Geneva  and  Onon- 
daga, and  their  peers  ;  from  the  forge  and  the  farm,  the  shop  and  the  fac- 
tory ;  from  college  halls  and  crowded  tenements  ;  all  alike,  they  came 
here  and  fought  and  fell — and  shall  never,  never  be  forgotten.  Our  great 
unknown  defenders  !  Ah,  my  countrymen,  here  we  touch  the  founda- 
tions of  a  people's  safety — of  a  nation's  greatness.  We  are  wont  to  talk 
much  of  the  world's  need  of  great  leaders,  and  their  proverb  is  often  on 
our  lips  who  said  of  old,  "Woe  unto  the  land  whose  King  is  a  child." 
Yes,  verily,  that  is  a  dreary  outlook  for  any  people  when  among  her  sons 
there  is  none  worthy  to  lead  her  armies,  to  guide  her  councils,  to  interpret 
her  laws,  or  to  administer  them.  But  that  is  a  still  drearier  outlook,  when 
in*  any  nation,  however  wise  her  rulers,  and  noble  and  heroic  her  com- 
manders, there  is  no  greatness  in  the  people  equal  to  a  great  vision  in  an 
emergency,  and  a  great  courage  with  which  to  seize  it.  And  that,  I 
maintain,  was  the  supreme  glory  of  the  heroes  whom  we  commemorate 
to-day.  All  the  more  are  they  the  fitting  representatives  of  you  and  of 
me — the  people.    Never  in  all  history,  I  venture  to  afiirm,  was  there  a  war 


284  HENRY  CODMAN  POTTER 

whose  aims,  whose  policy,  whose  sacrifices  were  so  absolutely  determined 
by  the  people,  in  whom  lay  the  strength  and  the  power  of  the  Republic. 
When  some  one  reproached  Lincoln  for  the  seeming  hesitancy  of  his 
policy,  he  answered — great  seer  as  well  as  great  soul  that  he  was — "  I 
stand  for  the  people.  I  am  going  just  as  fast  and  as  far  as  I  can  feel  them 
behind  me." 

And  so,  as  we  come  here  to-day  and  plant  this  column,  consecrating 
it  to  its  enduring  dignity  and  honor  as  the  memorial  of  our  unknown  dead, 
we  are  doing,  as  I  cannot  but  think,  the  fittest  possible  deed  that  we  can 
do.  These  unknown  that  lie  about  us  here — ah,  what  are  they  but  the 
peerless  representatives,  el^ct  forever  by  the  deadly  gauge  of  battle,  of 
those  sixty  millions  of  people,  as  to-day  they  are,  whose  rights  and  liber- 
ties they  achieved  !  Unknown  to  us  are  their  names  ;  unknown  to 
them  were  the  greatness  and  glory  of  their  deeds  !  And  is  not  this, 
brothers  of  New  York,  the  story  of  the  world's  best  manhood,  and  of  its 
best  achievement  ?  The  work  by  the  great  unknown,  for  the  great  unknown 
— the  work  that,  by  fidelity  in  the  ranks,  courage  in  the  trenches,  obedi- 
ence to  the  voice  of  command,  patience  at  the  picket  line,  vigilance  at  the 
outpost,  is  done  by  that  great  host  that  bear  no  splendid  insignia  of  rank, 
and  figure  in  no  Commander's  despatches — this  work,  with  its  largest,  and 
incalculable,  and  unforseen  consequences  for  a  whole  people — is  not 
this  work,  which  we  are  here"  to-day  to  commemorate,  at  once  the  noblest 
and  most  vast  ?  Who  can  tell  us  now  the  names  even  of  those  that  sleep 
about  us  here ;  and  who  of  them  would  guess,  on  that  eventful  day  when 
here  they  gave  their  lives  for  duty  and  their  country,  how  great  and  how 
far-reaching  in  its  effects  would  be  the  victory  they  should  win  ? 

And  thus  we  learn,  my  brothers,  where  a  nation's  strength  resides. 
When  the  German  Emperor,  after  the  Franco- Prussian  War,  was  crowne 
in  the  Salle  des  Glaces  at  Versailles,  on  the  ceiling  of  the  great  hall  i 
which  that  memorable  ceremony  took  place,  there  were  inscribed  tb 
words:  "The  King  Rules  by  His  Own  Authority."  "Not  so,"  said 
that  grand  old  man  of  blood  and  iron  who,  most  of  all,  had  welded  Ger- 
many into  one  mighty  people — ' '  not  so  :  *  The  Kings  of  the  earth  shall 
rule  under  me,  saith  the  Lord.'  Trusting  in  the  tried  love  of  the  whole 
people,  we  leave  the  country's  future  in  God's  hands  !  "  Ah,  my  coun- 
trymen, it  was  not  this  man  or  that  man  that  saved  our  Republic  in  its 
hour  of  supreme  peril.  Let  us  not,  indeed,  forget  her  great  leaders,  great 
generals,  great  statesmen,  and  greatest  among  them  all,  her  great  martyr 
and  President,  Lincoln.  But  there  was  no  one  of  these  then  who  would 
not  have  told  us  that  which  we  may  all  see  so  plainly  now,  that  it  was  not 
they  who  saved  the  country,  but  the  host  of  her  great  unknown. 


3. 

] 


CAMPAIGN  ORATORY 

William  J.  Bryan  making  a  Campaign  Speech  from  the  rear  end 
of  a  train  As  a  political  orator,  he  is  distinguished,  being  well 
equipped  by  nature  and  training  for  public  speaking. 


FRANK  W.  GUNSAULUS  (1856- 

CHICAGO'S  FAVORITE  PULPIT  ORATOR 


AMONG  the  pulpit  orators  of  the  West,  Dr.  Gunsaulus,  whose 
ministrations  for  many  years  past  have  been  confined  to  the 
"^  metropolitan  city  of  the  lakes,  has  long  held  a  high  place  in 
public  estimation.  Born  at  Chesterville,  Ohio,  and  educated  for  the 
ministry  at  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  he  passed  the  first  four  years 
of  his  ministerial  life  as  a  Methodist  preacher.  Subsequently  entering 
the  Congregational  Church,  he  filled  the  pastorate  of  the  Eastwood 
Church  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  from  1879  to  1881,  preached  during  the  suc- 
ceeding four  years  at  Newtonville,  Massachusetts,  and  for  two  years  at 
Baltimore,  and  became  pastor  of  the  Plymouth  Congregational  Church, 
of  Chicago,  in  1887.  In  1899,  he  removed  to  the  Central  Church, 
Chicago.  In  addition  he  has  been  a  lecturer  at  the  Yale  Theological 
Seminary,  and  a  professorial  lecturer  at  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Aside  from  his  pulpit  duties,  he  has  been  somewhat  active  as  an  author, 
especially  in  the  field  of  poetry,  his  poems  embracing  several  volumes 
of  graceful  and  thoughtful  verse.  As  a  pulpit  orator,  Dr.  Gunsaulus 
-is  highly  esteemed,  and  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  leading  lights  in 
the  Western  ministry. 

THE  TAPESTRY  OF  ANGLO-SAXON  CIVILIZATION 

[Among  the  many  memorial  sermons  and  addresses  delivered  after  the  death 
of  Britain's  esteemed  Queen,  that  spoken  by  Dr.  Gunsaulus  in  the  Auditorium  at 
Chicago,  February,  1901,  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  elevated  and  appreciative,  alike 
in  its  estimate  of  the  character  of  Victoria  and  its  lofty  conception  of  Anglo-Saxon 
progress  during  her  reign,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  age  of  Elizabeth,  England's 
former  great  Queen.  From  this  fine  address  we  select  the  portions  in  which  this  view 
of  modern  progress  is  most  picturesquely  set  forth.] 

Wonderful  and  rich  is  that  tapestry  known  as  Anglo-Saxon  civiliza- 
Ition.     The  pattern,  all  beautiful,  was  seen  in  vision  by  him  who  relaid  the 

23s 


286  FRANK  W.  GUNSAULUS 

foundations  of  society  on  the  tnith  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Bro- 
therhood of  Man .  Poets  and  priests  have  not  been  alone  in  catching  glimp- 
ses of  its  glory  from  time  to  time.  As  they  have  climbed  reverently  up  the 
altar  steps  of  Calvary,  kings  like  Charlemagne,  Alfred  and  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  in  spite  of  limitations  and  the  ignorance  of  their  times,  have 
looked  now  and  then  upon  the  external  plan  of  God  in  the  redemption  of 
man  by  man.  So  far  as  they  have  obeyed  the  vision,  they  have  been  the 
truly  great  in  history.  Separated  by  ages  and  of  differing  temperaments, 
sure  to  have  formed  an  irreconcilable  company  had  they  ever  met  on 
earth,  uniting  with  the  uncrowned  kings  of  time,  such  as  Hampden,  Lin- 
coln and  Cavour,  each  of  them  in  the  light  of  this  vision  has  become  great. 
They  have  come  into  a  growing  supremacy  over  men's  hearts,  not  so  much 
because  of  might  of  mental  endowment  or  that  wit  or  wisdom  which  springs 
from  unique  prowess  of  brain,  as  because  of  the  fact  that  each  of  them, 
after  the  manner  of  his  own  character,  loyally  seized  upon  the  purpose  of 
the  Infinite  One  and  compelled  himself  and  all  things  attaching  themselves 
to  him,  to  enter  into  the  achieving  of  the  will  of  God  in  human  history. 

Some  of  these,  like  Victoria,  have  the  distinction  of  being  less  appar- 
ently illustrious  than  others,  especially  in  the  possession  of  military  and 
civil  genius,  in  those  abilities  which  manifest  themselves  in  consummate 
strategy  or  comprehensive  organization.  This  very  fact,  however,  enables 
us  to  see  the  true  foundation  and  manner  of  their  greatness.  If  these  less 
magnetic  leaders  of  the  race  wrote  as  inspiring  pages  of  history,  or  if  they 
also  trained  the  forces  of  an  age  till  they  met  in  orderly  battalions  around 
their  thrones,  it  was  not  because  of  the  greatness  of  humanity  displayed 
at  fortunate  moments,  but  because  of  the  greatness  of  God  revealed  in 
humanity.  A  little  child  mounting  reverently  and  obediently  upon  the 
vast  shoulders  of  the  Infinite  God,  and  living  his  life  there  at  the  high 
level  to  which  the  uplifting  God  has  raised  him,  is  taller  far  than  the 
mightiest  of  giants.  He  gets  the  sublime  point  of  view,  he  travels  with 
the  gait  of  the  swift,  sure  and  on-marching  Jehovah.  When  he  is  weak- 
est, he  is  strongest.  His  cry  is,  ''  The  Almighty  is  my  defense,"  "  Yea, 
Lord,  Thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great."  Such  was  the  greatness  of 
Victoria,  Queen  of  England.  With  her  hand  on  these  Scriptures  and 
their  like,  she  answered  an  Indian  prince,  who  inquired  of  her  the  secret 
of  England's  greatness:  "This,"  and  she  gave  him  a  Bible — "this  is 
the  secret  of  England's  greatness." 

She  approached  her  throne  at  a  time  when  a  totally  opposite  view  of 
what  constitutes  greatness  had  well-nigh  bewildered  Europe,  but  at  length 
had  been  torn  into  tatters  in  the  name  of  humanity  at  Waterloo.  Its  bril- 
liant incarnation  was  dying  an  exile  on  the  English  island  of  St.  Helena^ 


FRANK  W.  GUNSAULUS  287 

When  Wellington  defeated  Napoleon  on  that  memorable  day,  it  was  not 
so  much  England  gaining  a  victory  over  France,  as  the  civilization  of 
Europe  rising  to  behold  the  idea  of  duty  struggling  triumphantly  against 
the  illusion  of  glory. 

**  Not  once  or  twice  in  our  rough  island  story, 
The  path  of  duty  is  the  way  to  glory.** 

So  sings  the  Englishman  to-day.  After  sixty  years  of  duty  doing, 
the  accomplished  sovereignty  of  Victoria  has  flung  its  warm  light  upon 
the  history  of  our  times.  No  other  kind  of  greatness,  save  the  greatness 
allied  with  the  on-going  process  of  God's  plan,  realizing  itself  in  the 
development  and  education  of  man,  would  have  been  equal  to  the 
demands  of  our  age.  No  greatness  is  equal  to  the  demands  and  oppor- 
tunities of  any  time  which  is  not  true  to  the  heart  of  eternity.  Taine 
says  that  Napoleon  was  a  Caesar  thrust  upon  the  eighteenth  century.  Let 
us  add  that  Victoria,  who  had  visited  in  her  worship  and  hope  the  cross 
of  Jesus  once  lifted  up  upon  a  hill-top  in  one  of  Caesar's  dependencies, 
was  a  Christian  possessing  that  statesman-like  vision  which  shall  make 
Csesarism  impossible.  Her  era  was  to  be  an  era  devoted  to  the  scientific 
method.  It  was  to  be  conscious  of  indubitable  facts.  Within  the  efful- 
gence of  every  movement  of  its  course  there  was  to  be  discerned  a  plain 
and  often  too  hard  reality.  The  greatness,  therefore,  which  should  both 
reign  and  rule,  was  that  whose  eyes  saw  not  glory,  but  duty,  as  the 
"  Stern  daughter  of  the  voice  of  God.  "  Like  her  own  earliest  poet-lau- 
reate, Wordsworth,  who  gave  to  England  this  happy  phrase,  the  realm 
over  which  Victoria  was  to  rule  had  put  aside  the  fever-haunted  dream 
sympathetic  with  the  French  Revolution  ;  and  the  best  hope  of  civiliza- 
tion was  ready  for  a  time  when  public  duty  should  obey  the  dictates  of 
lofty  personal  morality,  while  freedom,  *' broadening  slowly  down,  from 
precedent  to  precedent,"  would  win  new  triumphs  throughout  all  the 
world,  along  with  such  achievements  of  literature  and  art,  and  especially 
trade  and  commerce,  manufacture,  invention  and  discovery,  as  would 
dazzle  the  eye  of  the  student  of  history 

What  are  called  the  "spacious  times  of  great  Elizabeth"  were 
spacious  indeed,  as  compared  with  those  confined  and  narrow  days  before 
England  experienced  her  true  renaissance.  When  Edmund  Spenser 
accompanied  Raleigh  to  London  in  the  winter  of  1589,  stopping  on  his 
way  to  add  to  the  first  three  books  of  "  The  Fairie  Queen,"  England  .was 
almost  a  fairy  land  given  over  to  the  fresh  romances  which  filled  the  Eng- 
lish imagination.  Her  heroic  sailors  came  back  with  tales  that  expanded 
the  fancy  and  stimulated  the  enterprise  of  an  age  whose  poet  was  the 


288  FRANK  W.  GUNSAULUS 

greatest  dramatist  of  all  time,  whose  philosopher  championed  the  method 
of  modern  science  whose  courtiers,  like  Leicester  and  Sydney,  whose 
singers,  like  Ben  Johnson  and  Fletcher,  vied  with  men  of  equal  under- 
standing and  talent  to  create  an  era  of  marvels  in  literature,  discovery  and 
thought,  making  it  as  worthy  of  renown  as  the  era  of  Pericles  in  Greece 
or  that  of  Augustus  in  Rome. 

Not  less  of  the  wonderful  has  characterized  Victoria's  time.  The 
lyrics  of  the  time  of  Elizabeth  and  those  of  the  era  of  Victoria  are  full  of 
the  same  smell  of  the  brine  and  billowy  sweep  of  the  waves  which  the 
spirit  of  England  has  met  in  storm  and  shine,  as  the  insularity  of  the  Eng- 
lishman has  given  way  to  the  proud  realization  that  the  island  is  not  too 
small  to  produce  political  and  literary  impulses  whose  dominion  girdles 
the  planet.  As  Italian  song  gave  form  to  the  finer  products  of  Eliza- 
bethan literature,  so  Elizabethan  verse  has  communicated  its  strength  and 
richness  to  Victorian  poetry.  But  the  greatness  of  Victoria  abides  in  this, 
that  whatever  be  the  origin  of  the  literature  and  art,  of  the  commerce  and 
politics,  or  of  the  astonishing  movement  in  science  and  invention,  hers 
has  been  the  privilege  of  beholding  and  even  influencing  with  a  genial  sky 
that  newly-discovered  sea  of  thought  whose  currents  are  longer  and  deeper 
than  any  observed  by  an  Elizabethan  sea-rover,  an  ocean,  indeed,  whose 
waves  are  subservient  to  tides  mightier  than  any  which  crushed  the 
Spanish  Armada.  There  has  been  something  so  vast,  enchanting,  and 
truly  romantic  in  the  swift  enlargement  of  human  life  as  these  strange 
seas  of  thought  upon  which  modern  minds  have  voyaged,  have  come  into 
view,  that  man  turns  the  pages  of  history  in  vain  to  find  a  parallel.  The 
Drake  of  Elizabeth's  day,  sailing  over  the  nameless  solitudes  of  the 
Pacific,  is  surpassed  by  the  genius  of  Charles  Darwin  finding  the  new 
coasts  of  truth  against  which  all  waters  roll.  Bacon's  gives  place  to  the 
vaster  induction  of  Herbert  Spencer.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  amazing 
tales  of  Golcondas  and  Eldorados,  newly  disclosed,  are  far  less  wonder- 
ful than  the  realities,  definitely  labeled,  or  daily  put  to  use  in  the  labor- 
atory of  the  physicist  or  engineer  of  to-day.  As  truly  as  the  Elizabethan 
spirit  stimulated  the  vigorous  efforts  which  resulted  in  the  glory  of  her 
age,  so  has  the  Victorian  spirit  quickened  and  inspired  the  more  sub- 
lime movements  whose  fruition  has  given  this  age  its  imperishable 
renown.  The  very  personality  of  Victoria  has  been  a  genial  climate  in 
which  countless  and  fair  blossoms  have  come  to  be.  She  herself  has 
been  the  most  pervasive  and  important  fact  and  factor  in  her  own  coun- 
try and  time,  and  thus  the  importance  and  splendor  of  no  movement  in 
her  day  eclipses  the  brightness  of  the  Queen. 


* 


DWIGHT  L  MOODY  (18374899) 

THE  ELOQUENT  EVANGELIST 


BOR  many  years  Dwight  L.  Moody  was  immensely  popular  as  an 
evangelist,  preaching  to  vast  crowds  both  in  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain.  In  both  countries  he  had  remarkable  suc- 
cess, and  exerted  a  powerful  influence  for  good  on  various  classes  of 
the  people.  The  success  of  his  ministrations  was  very  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  sweet  voice  and  fine  native  powers  of  song  of  Ira  D. 
Sankey,  who  accompanied  him  in  his  wanderings,  singing  the  familiar 
**  Ninety  and  Nine  "  and  various  other  hymns,  original  and  striking 
in  music  and  words. 

Mr.  Moody  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  but  went  to  Chicago  in 
1856,  where,  while  engaged  in  business,  he  carried  on  an  active  mis- 
sionary work.  He  was  joined  by  Mr.  Sankey  in  1870,  and  for  years 
afterward  he  was  engaged  in  evangelical  labors.  As  an  orator  Mr. 
Moody  depended  largely  on  his  power  of  working  on  the  emotions  of 
li  an  audience,  his  sermons  manifesting  little  original  thought  and  being 
by  no  means  examples  of  classic  English. 


GOD  IS  LOVE 

[From  one  of  Mr.  Moody's  sermons,  with  the  above  title,  we  select  an  interest- 
ing and  very  well  told  anecdote,  which  will  serve  as  a  favorable  example  of  his 
powers.] 

My  text  is  taken  from  the  ist  epistle  of  John,  and  it  is  one  of  those 
:  texts  the  world  does  not  believe.  If  I  could  make  every  one  in  this  build- 
1  ing  believe  this  text,  I  would  not  preach  a  sermon.  If  we  all  believed  it, 
j  we  would  not  need  a  sermon.  "God  is  love."  That  is  one  of  the  texts 
j  the  devil  would  like  to  blot  out  of  the  Bible.  For  six  thousand  years  he 
has  been  going  up  and  down  the  world  trying  to  make  men  believe  that 
I  God  is  not  love.  Love  begets  love,  and  hate  begets  hate.  Let  me  tell 
19  289 


290  DWIGHt  L.  MOODY 

any  one  of  you  that  I  heard  a  man  say  this  week  that  you  were  one  of  th^ 
meanest  men  in  town,  and  you  will  soon  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
man  who  said  that  was  the  meanest  man  you  ever  heard  of.  Let  me  tell 
you  that  I  heard  a  man  say  he  thought  more  of  you  than  of  any  other  man 
in  the  city,  and,  though  you  may  not  have  thought  about  him  before,  your 
love  will  spring  up  and  you  will  say,  "I  think  a  great  deal  of  that  man." 

Now,  men  are  believing  the  devil's  lies  when  they  don't  believe  God 
is  love.  A  few  years  ago,  when  we  built  a  church  in  Chicago,  a  friend 
put  up  over  the  pulpit  in  gas-jets  the  words,  *  'God  is  love. "  We  thought, 
if  we  couldn't  preach  it  into  the  hearts  of  the  people,  we  would  burn  it  in. 
A  man  happened  to  see  that  text  up  there,  and  he  said  to  himself:  "God  is 
not  love  ;  God  does  not  love  me  ;"  and  he  came  around  into  the  church, 
not  to  hear  the  sermon,  but  to  see  the  text  as  it  was  burning  there  upon 
the  wall.  The  arrow  reached  its  mark.  He  went  into  the  inquiry  meet- 
ing. I  inquired  what  it  was  impressed  him.  He  said  it  was  not  the  ser- 
mon ;  it  was  those  words  that  had  burned  into  his  soul.  He  was  weeping, 
and  he  wanted  to  know  what  he  should  do  to  be  saved. 

* '  God  is  love. ' '  I  hope  this  text  will  find  its  way  into  every  heart 
here.  I  want  to  prove  it  from  Scripture.  The  great  trouble  with  men  is, 
they  are  all  the  time  trying  to  measure  God  by  their  own  rule,  and  from 
their  own  standpoint.  A  man  is  apt  to  j  udge  others  from  his  own  standard. 
If  a  man  is  covetous,  he  thinks  every  one  else  is  covetous.  If  he  is  a  self- 
ish man,  he  thinks  every  one  else  is  selfish.  If  a  man  is  guilty  of  adul- 
tery, he  thinks  every  other  man  is.  If  a  man  is  dishonest,  he  thinks  every 
other  man  is.  Many  are  trying  to  bring  God  down  to  their  own  level. 
They  don't  know  that  between  human  love  and  divine  love  there  is  as 
much  difference  as  there  is  between  darkness  and  light.  God's  love  is 
deep  and  high  ;  Paul  says  it  passeth  knowledge.  We  love  a  man  as  long 
as  he  is  worthy  of  our  love,  and  when  he  is  not  we  cast  him  off;  but  we 
don't  find  in  the  Word  of  God  that  God  casts  off  those  who  are  not 
worthy  of  His  love.  If  He  did,  there  would  be  no  one  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  except  Jesus  himself. 

A  poor  woman  came  into  the  inquiry  room,  and  said  she  had  no 
strength.  I  said:  ''Thank  God  for  that,  Christ  died  for  us  when  we 
were  without  strength."  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly.  There  was  a  timei 
when  I  preached  that  God  hated  the  sinner,  and  that  God  was  after  every 
poor  sinner  with  a  double-edged  sword.  Many  a  time  have  I  represented 
that  God  was  after  every  poor  sinner,  ready  to  hew  him  down.  But  I 
have  changed  my  ideas  upon  this  point.     I  will  tell  you  how. 

In  1867,  when  I  was  preaching  in  Dublin,  in  a  large  hall,  at  the  closer 
of  the  service  a  young  man,  who  did  not   look  over  seventeen,  though  he' 


DWIGHT  L.  MOODY  291 

was  older,  came  tip  to  me  and  said  he  would  like  to  go  back  to  America 
with  me  and  preach  the  gospel.  I  thought  he  could  not  preach  it,  and  I 
said  I  was  undecided  when  I  could  go  back.  He  asked  me  if  I  would 
write  to  him  when  I  went,  and  he  would  come  with  me.  When  I  went  I 
thought  I  would  not  write  to  him,  as  I  did  not  know  whether  I  wanted 
him  or  not.  After  I  arrived  at  Chicago  I  got  a  letter  saying  he  had  just 
arrived  at  New  York,  and  he  would  come  and  preach.  I  wrote  him  a 
cold  letter,  asking  him  to  call  on  me  if  he  came  West.  A  few  days  after, 
I  got  a  letter  stating  he  would  be  in  Chicago  next  Thursday.  I  didn't 
know  what  to  do  with  him.  I  said  to  the  officers  of  the  church :  "  There 
is  a  man  coming  from  England,  and  he  wants  to  preach.  I  am  going  to 
be  absent  on  Thursday  and  Friday.  If  you  will  let  him  preach  on  those 
days,  I  will  be  back  on  Saturday,  and  take  him  off  your  hands." 

They  did  not  care  about  him  preaching,  being  a  stranger  ;  but  at  my 
request  they  let  him  preach.  On  my  return  on  Saturday  I  was  anxious 
to  hear  how  the  people  liked  him,  and  I  asked  my  wife  how  that  young 
Englishman  got  along.  "  How  did  they  like  him  ?  "  She  said,  "  They 
liked  him  very  much.  He  preaches  a  little  different  from  what  you  do. 
He  tells  people  God  loves  them.  I  think  you  will  like  him."  I  said  he 
was  wrong.  I  thought  I  could  not  like  a  man  who  preached  contrary  to 
what  I  was  preaching.  I  went  down  Saturday  night  to  hear  him,  but  I 
had  made  up  my  mind  not  to  like  him  because  he  preached  different 
from  me.  He  took  his  text, — and  I  saw  everybody  had  brought  their 
Bibles  with  them.  "Now,"  he  says,  **  if  you  will  turn  to  the  third 
chapter  of  John  and  the  sixteenth  verse,  you  will  find  my  text."  He 
preached  a  wonderful  sermon  from  that  text.  "  For  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  My  wife  had  told  me 
he  had  preached  the  two  previous  sermons  from  that  text,  and  I  noticed 
there  was  a  smile  over  the  house  when  he  took  the  same  text.  Instead  of 
preaching  that  God  was  behind  them  with  a  double-edged  sword  to  hew 
l^  them  down,  he  told  them  God  wanted  every  sinner  to  be  saved,  and  He 
jfi  loved  them.  I  could  not  keep  back  the  tears.  I  didn't  know  God 
^r.  thought  so  much  of  me.  It  was  wonderful  to  hear  the  way  he  brought 
..  i  out  Scripture.  He  went  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  and  preached  that  in 
..    all  ages  God  loved  the  sinner. 

.^  On  Sunday  night  there  was  a  great  crowd  came  to  hear  him.     He 

j»;:i  took  for  his  text  the  third  chapter  of  John  and  sixteenth  verse,  and  he 
^  •  preached  his  fourth  sermon  from  that  wonderful  text,  ' '  For  God  so  loved 
,^   the  world,"  &c.,  and  he  went  from  Genesis  to  Revelation  to  show  that  it 
, ..  jwas  love,  love,  love  that  brought  Christ  from  Heaven,  that  made  Him 


292  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

step  from  the  throne  to  lift  up  this  poor,  fallen  world.  He  struck  a 
higher  chord  that  night,  and  it  was  glorious.  The  next  night  there  was 
an  immense  crowd,  and  he  said  :  '*  Turn  to  the  third  chapter  and  sixteenth 
verse  of  John,"  and  he  preached  his  fifth  sermon  from  that  wonderful  text. 
He  did  not  divide  his  text  up  into  firstly,  secondly,  and  thirdly,  but  he 
took  the  whole  text  and  threw  it  at  them.  I  thought  that  sermon  was 
better  than  ever.  I  got  so  full  of  love  that  I  got  up  and  told  my  friends 
how  much  God  loved  them.  The  whole  church  was  on  fire  before  the 
week  was  over.  Tuesday  night  came,  and  there  was  a  greater  crowd  than 
ever.  The  preacher  said  :  ' '  Turn  to  the  third  chapter  of  John  and  the 
sixteenth  verse  and  you  will  find  my  text,"  and  he  preached  his  sixth 
sermon  from  that  wonderful  text,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,"  &c.  They 
thought  that  sermon  was  better  than  any  of  the  rest.  It  seemed  as  if 
every  heart  was  on  fire,  and  sinners  came  pressing  into  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

On  Wednesday  night  people  thought  that  probably  he  would  change 
his  text  now,  as  he  could  not  talk  any  longer  on  love.  There  was  great 
excitement  to  see  what  he  was  going  to  say.  He  stood  before  us  again, 
and  he  said  :  "  My  friends,  I  have  been  trying  to  get  a  new  text,  but  I 
cannot  find  any  as  good  as  the  old  one,  so  we  will  again  turn  to  the  third 
chapter  of  John  and  the  sixteenth  verse."  He  preached  his  seventh  ser- 
mon from  that  wonderful  text.  I  have  never  forgotten  those  nights.  I 
have  preached  a  different  gospel  since,  and  I  have  had  more  power  with 
God  and  man  since  then.  In  closing  up  that  seventh  sermon  he  said  :  * '  For 
seven  nights  I  have  been  trying  to  tell  you  how  much  God  loved  you,  but 
this  poor  stammering  tongue  of  mine  will  not  let  me.  If  I  could  ascend 
Jacob's  ladder  and  ask  Gabriel,  who  stands  in  the  presence  of  the 
Almighty,  to  tell  me  how  much  love  God  the  Father  has  for  this  poor 
lost  world,  all  that  Gabriel  could  say  would  be  '  That  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.'  " 

When  he  got  through  preaching  in  Chicago  we  had  to  get  the  largest 
building  there,  and  then  thousands  went  away  because  they  could  not  get 
in.  He  went  to  Europe,  and  returned  again.  In  the  meantime  our 
church  had  been  burned,  and  you  people  of  Philadelphia  put  us  up  a 
temporary  building.  When  he  came  there  he  preached  in  this  temporary 
building,  and  he  said  :  "  Although  the  old  building  is  burnt  up,  the  old 
text  is  not  burnt  up,  and  we  will  preach  from  that."  So  he  preached 
from  where  he  had  left  off"  preaching  about  the  love  of  God. 


BOOK  VIL 

Leaders  in  the  Lecture  Field 

IT  is  not  alone  in  the  legislative  hall  or  the  pulpit 
that  oratory  flourishes.  It  is  also  to  be  found  in 
the  field  of  forensic  argument,  and  the  lecture 
field.  In  the  former  of  these,  while  rare  displays  of 
eloquence  are  ot  times  given,  their  subject  is  usually 
one  of  local  and  passing  interest,  which  fact  renders 
them  unsuitable  for  popular  reading.  In  the  latter, 
while  the  topic  is  usually  of  an  educational  character, 
this  is  by  no  means  always  the  case.  The  lecturer's 
purpose  may  not  be  to  teach,  but  to  convince  and 
reform.  Of  such  character  are  the  many  addresses  on 
the  subjects  of  temperance,  woman's  suffrage,  Indus- 
trial oppression,  and  numerous  other  topics  in  which 
some  wrong  Is  to  be  righted,  some  evil  to  be  over- 
come. At  the  present  day  the  lecture  is  a  widely-pre- 
vailing form  of  the  oration.  In  the  absence  of  stirring 
causes  for  legislative  eloquence,  even  the  political 
speech  verges  towards  this  form.  In  a  nation  that 
is  entirely  peaceful  and  prosperous,  with  no  vital  dif- 
ference of  opinion  between  its  citizens,  the  oration 
will  become  more  and  more  of  the  lecture  character, 
its  purpose  being  to  instruct,  interest  or  amuse, 
rather  than  to  cure  the  political  or  social  evils  of  the 
age.  In  the  past  many  lecturers  of  fine  powers  have 
appeared,  and  English  and  American  literature  con- 
tains numerous  readable  and  inspiring  examples  in  this 
field.  We  shall  here  give  extracts  from  some  of  the 
more  eloquent  and  famous  of   these  public  favorites. 

293 


JOSEPH  STORY  (1779=1845) 

JURIST  AND  COLLEGE  LECTURER 


mUDGE  STORY,  appointed  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  in  1811,  when  thirty-two  years  of  age,  had 
the  honor  of  being  the  youngest  man  who  had  ever  held  so 
high  a  judicial  position  either  in  America  or  England.  He  continued 
to  hold  that  office  until  his  death  in  1845.  He  had  previously  been  a 
member  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  and  of  Congress,  and  for 
many  years  during  his  judicial  term  was  at  the  head  of  the  Law  School 
of  Harvard  University.  Throughout  his  life  he  pursued  an  active 
literary  career,  beginning  as  a  jurist  and  devoting  himself  after  1804 
to  legal  study.  His  subsequent  treatises  upon  the  law  were  of  the 
most  profound  character,  his  writings  being  more  voluminous  than 
those  of  any  other  lawyer  of  great  eminence.  "  For  learning,  indus- 
try, and  talent,'^  says  Chancellor  Kent,  "  he  is  the  most  extraordinary 
jurist  of  the  age." 

As  an  orator  Judge  Story  won  wide  esteem,  and  his  lectures  upon 
the  dry  themes  of  the  law  were  delivered  with  such  an  enthusiasm,  and 
were  so  richly  embellished  with  anecdotes  and  illustrative  episodes, 
that  they  gained  the  piquancy  of  literary  lectures.  No  educator  ever 
had  a  stronger  hold  upon  his  students  or  a  more  unbounded  influence 
over  their  minds,  and  he  w^as  great  and  popular  alike  in  the  college 
hall  and  on  the  judicial  bench. 

THE  DESTINY  OF  THE  INDIAN 

[Of  Judge  Story's  oratory,  the  best  known  and  most  picturesque  example  ]|  ^ 
the  often  quoted  passage  npon  the  melancholy  fate  of  the  American  Indians.     Thii 
formed  part  of  his  discourse,  before  the  Essex  Historical  Society,  upon  the  first  settled 
ment  of  Salem,  Massachusetts.     No  nobler  specimen  could  be  chosen  of  his  oratorical 
Style,  it  being  a  gem  of  literary  finish  and  sympathetic  eloquence.] 
294 

\ 


JOSEPH  STORY  295 

There  is,  indeed,  in  the  fate  of  these  unfortunate  beings,  much  to 
awaken  our  sympathy,  and  much  to  disturb  the  sobriety  of  our  judgment; 
much,  which  may  be  urged  to  excuse  their  own  atrocities  ;  much  in  their 
characters  which  betrays  us  into  an  involuntary  admiration.  What  can 
be  more  melancholy  than  their  history  ?  By  a  law  of  their  nature,  they 
seem  destined  to  a  slow  but  sure  extinction.  Everywhere,  at  the  approach, 
of  the  white  man,  they  fade  away.  We  hear  the  rustling  of  their  footsteps 
like  that  of  the  withered  leaves  of  autumn,  and  they  are  gone  forever. 
They  pass  mournfully  by  us,  and  they  return  no  more.  Two  centuries 
ago,  the  smoke  of  their  wigwams  and  the  fires  of  their  councils  rose  in 
every  valley,  from  Hudson's  Bay  to  the  farthest  Florida,  from  the  ocean 
to  the  Mississippi  and  the  lakes.  The  shouts  of  victory  and  the  war-dance 
rang  through  the  mountains  and  the  glades.  The  thick  arrows  and  the 
deadly  tomahawk  whistled  through  the  forests  ;  and  the  hunter's  trace  and 
the  dark  encampment  startled  the  wild  beasts  in  their  lairs.  The  warriors 
stood  forth  in  their  glory.  The  young  listened  to  the  songs  of  other  days./ 
The  mothers  played  with  their  infants,  and  gazed  on  the  scene  with  warm 
hopes  of  the  future.  The  aged  sat  down;  but  they  wept  not.  They 
should  soon  be  at  rest  in  fairer  regions,  where  the  Great  Spirit  dwelt,  in  a 
home  prepared  for  the  brave,  beyond  the  Western  skies.  Braver  men 
never  lived  ;  truer  men  never  drew  the  bow.  They  had  courage,  and 
fortitude,  and  sagacity,  and  perseverance,  beyond  most  of  the  human  race. 
They  shrank  from  no  dangers,  and  they  feared  no  hardships.  If  they  had 
the  vices  of  savage  life,  they  had  the  virtues  also.  They  were  true  to  their, 
country,  their  friends,  and  their  homes.  If  they  forgave  not  injury,  nei- 
ther did  they  forget  kindness.  If  their  vengeance  was  terrible,  their 
fidelity  and  generosity  were  unconquerable  also.  Their  love,  like  their 
hate,  stopped  not  on  this  side  of  the  grave. 

But  where  are  they?  Where  are  the  villages  and  warriors  and 
youth  ;  the  sachems  and  the  tribes  ;  the  hunters  and  their  families  ?  They 
have  perished.  (They  are  consumed.  The  wasting  pestilence  has  not 
alone  done  the  mighty  work.  No — nor  famine,  nor  war.  There  has  been 
a  mightier  power,  a  moral  canker,  which  hath  eaten  into  their  heart- 
cores,  a  plague  which  the  touch  of  the  white  man  communicated,  a 
poison  which  betrayed  them  into  a  lingering  ruin.  The  winds  of  the 
Atlantic  fan  not  a  single  region  which  they  may  now  call  their  own. 
Already  the  last  feeble  remnants  of  their  race  are  preparing  for  their  jour- 
ney beyond  the  Mississippi.  I  see  them  leave  their  miserable  homes — the 
aged,  the  helpless,  the  women  and  the  warriors — **  few  and  faint,  yet  fear- 
less still."  The  ashes  are  cold  on  their  native  hearths.  The  smoke  no 
longer  curls  round  their  lowly  cabins.     They  move   on   with   a   slov^^i 


296  JOSEPH  STORY 

unsteady  step.  The  white  man  is  upon  their  heels,  for  terror  or  despatch; 
but  they  heed  him  not.  They  turn  to  take  a  last  look  of  their  deserted 
villages.  They  cast  a  last  glance  upon  the  graves  of  their  fathers.  They 
shed  no  tears  ;  they  utter  no  cries ;  they  heave  no  groans.  There  is 
something  in  their  hearts  which  passes  speech.  There  is  something  in 
their  looVs,  not  of  vengeance  or  submission,  but  of  hard  necessity,  which 
stifles  both ;  which  chokes  all  utterance ;  which  has  no  aim  or  method. 
It  is  courage  absorbed  in  despair.  They  linger  but  for  a  moment.  Their 
look  is  onward.  They  have  passed  the  fatal  stream.  It  shall  never  be 
repassed  by  them — no,  never.  Yet  there  lies  not  between  us  and  them  an 
impassable  gulf.  They  know  and  feel  that  there  is  for  them  still  one 
remove  farther,  not  distant  nor  unseen.  It  is  to  the  general  burial-ground 
of  their  race. 

HASTY  WORK  IS   PRENTICE  T^ORK 

It  was  a  beautiful  remark  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  that  "Great  works, 
which  are  to  live  and  stand  the  criticism  of  posterity,  are  not  performed 
at  a  heat."  **  I  remember,"  says  he,  *'  when  I  was  at  Rome,  looking  at 
the  Fighting  Gladiator  in  company  with  an  eminent  sculptor,  and  I 
expressed  my  admiration  of  the  skill  with  which  the  whole  is  composed, 
and  the  minute  attention  of  the  artist  to  the  change  of  every  muscle  in 
that  momentary  exertion  of  strength.  He  was  of  opinion  that  a  work  so 
perfect  required  nearly  the  whole  life  of  man  to  perform." 

What  an  admonition  !  What  a  melancholy  reflection  to  those  who 
deem  the  literary  fame  of  the  present  age  the  best  gift  to  posterity  !  How 
many  of  our  proudest  geniuses  have  written,  and  continue  to  write,  with  a 
swiftness  which  almost  rivals  the  operations  of  the  press  !  How  many  are 
urged  on  to  the  ruin  of  their  immortal  hopes  by  that  public  favor  which 
receives  with  acclamation  every  new  offspring  of  their  pen  !  If  Milton 
had  written  thus,  we  should  have  found  no  scholar  of  our  day,  no  Chris- 
tian Examiner ^  portraying  the  glory  of  his  character  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  kindred  spirit.  If  Pope  had  written  thus,  we  should  have  had  no 
fine  contests  respecting  his  genius  and  poetical  attainments  by  our  Byrons 
and  Bowleses  and  Roscoes.  If  Virgil  had  written  thus,  he  might  have 
chanted  his  verses  to  the  courtly  Augustus  ;  but  Marcellus  and  his  story 
would  have  perished.  If  Horace  had  written  thus,  he  might  have 
enchanted  gay  friends  and  social  parties ;  but  it  would  never  have  been 
said  of  his  composition  :  decies  repetita  placebit. 


\ 


SERGEANT  S.  PRENTISS  (J 8084 85 J 

THE  aCERO  OF  THE  SOUTH 


AMONG  the  natural  orators  of  America,  the  men  to  whom  the 
gift  of  fluent  speech  is  part  of  their  very  being,  there  have 
*— ^  been  none  to  surpass  Sergeant  S.  Prentiss,  a  son  of  Maine,  but 
for  many  years  a  resident  of  the  South.  In  the  words  of  one  of  his 
contemporaries  :  "  His  most  striking  talent  was  his  oratory.  We  have 
never  known  nor  read  of  a  man  who  equalled  Prentiss  in  the  faculty 
of  thinking  on  his  legs,  or  of  extemporaneous  eloquence.  He  required 
no  preparation  to  speak  on  any  subject,  and  on  all  he  was  equally 
happy.  We  have  heard  from  him,  thrown  out  in  a  dinner  speech,  or 
at  a  public  meeting,  when  unexpectedly  called  on,  more  brilliant  and 
striking  thoughts  than  many  of  the  most  celebrated  poets  and  orators 
ever  elaborated  in  their  closets." 

Born  at  Portland,  Maine,  an  opportunity  for  a  lucrative  tutor- 
ship took  him  from  college  to  Natchez,  Mississippi,  and  it  was  in  this 
city  and  in  New  Orleans  that  he  afterward  resided,  obtaining  in  each 
a  very  large  legal  practice.  Elected  to  Congress  in  1837,  his  seat  was 
contested,  and  he  addressed  the  House  in  support  of  his  claim  in  a 
most  admirable  burst  of  oratory.  His  reputation  as  an  orator  had 
preceded  him,  and  the  House  was  crowded  with  those  who  desired  to 
test  the  quality  of  his  eloquence.  Rarely  has  Congress  heard  an  abler 
or  more  telling  address.  Webster  said,  on  leaving  the  hall,  ''  Nobody 
could  equal  it.^'  Ex-President  Fillmore  remarked  :  "  I  can  never  for- 
get that  speech.  It  was  certainly  the  most  brilliant  that  I  ever  heard." 
.Prentiss  did  not  remain  long  in  Congress.  A  parliamentary  career 
\^s  not  to  his  taste.  But  his  brief  stay  there  was  one  of  brilliancy 
anU.success,  his  few  speeches  winning  him  public  applause  and  firmly 
^gtablishing  his  iame  as  a  statesmanlike  orator.     He  continued,  how- 

297 


298  •  SERGEANT    S.  PRENTISS 

ever,  to  take  part  in  political  movements,  and  became  widely  known 
as  a  most  effective  campaign  speaker.  In  1845  he  removed  from 
Vicksburg  to  New  Orleans,  in  which  city  he  died  in  1851. 

THE  PILGRIMS 

[One  of  Mr.  Prentiss'  best  known  orations  is  the  address  delivered  before  the 
New  England  Society  of  New  Orleans,  on  December  22,  1845.  His  eulogy  of  the  Pil- 
grims was  a  most  effective  bit  of  word  painting,  especially  in  his  contrast  of  their 
character  and  aims  with  those  of  the  Spanish  adventurers  of  the  South.] 

Two  centuries  and  a  quarter  ago,  a  little  tempest- tost,  weather- 
beaten  bark,  barely  escaped  from  the  jaws  of  the  wild  Atlantic,  landed 
upon  the  bleakest  shore  of  New  England.  From  her  deck  disembarked 
a  hundred  and  one  care-worn  exiles.  To  the  casual  observer  no  event 
could  seem  more  insignificant.  The  contemptuous  eye  of  the  world 
scarcely  deigned  to  notice  it.  Yet  the  famous  vessel  that  bore  Caesar  and 
his  fortunes,  carried  but  an  ignoble  freight  compared  with  that  of  the 
Mayflower .  Her  little  band  of  Pilgrims  brought  with  them  neither  wealth 
nor  power,  but  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious  freedom.  They 
planted  them,  for  the  first  time,  in  the  Western  Continent.  They  cher- 
ished, cultivated  and  developed  them  to  a  full  and  luxuriant  maturity  ; 
and  then  furnished  them  to  their  posterity  as  the  only  sure  and  permanent 
foundations  for  a  free  government.  Upon  those  foundations  rests  the 
fabric  of  our  great  Republic  ;  upon  thDse  principles  depends  the  career  of 
human  liberty.  Little  did  the  miserable  pedant  and  bigot  who  then 
wielded  the  sceptre  of  Great  Britain  imagine  that  from  this  feeble  settle- 
ment of  persecuted  and  despised  Puritans  would  arise  a  nation  capable  of 
coping  with  his  own  mighty  empire  in  arts  and  arms.  .    . 

How  proudl}'-  can  we  compare  their  conduct  with  that  of  the  adven- 
turers of  other  nations  who  preceded  them.  How  did  the  Spaniard  colo- 
nize ?  Let  Mexico,  Peru  and  Hispaniola  answer.  He  followed  in  the 
train  of  the  great  Discoverer,  like  a  devouring  pestilence.  His  cry  was 
gold  !  gold  !  !  gold  !  !  !  Never  in  the  history  of  the  world  had  the  sacra 
fames  aurz  exhibited  itself  with  such  fearful  intensity.  His  imagination 
maddened  with  visions  of  sudden  and  boundless  wealth,  clad  in  mail,  he 
leaped  upon  the  New  World,  an  armed  robber.  In  greedy  haste  he 
grasped  the  sparkling  sand,  then  cast  it  down  with  curses,  when  he  found 
the  glittering  grains  were  not  of  gold. 

Pitiless  as  the  blood-hound  by  his  side,  he  plunged  into  the  primeval 
forests,  crossed  rivers,  lakes,  and  mountains,  and  penetrated  to  the  very 
heart  of  the  continent.  No  region,  however  rich  in  soil,  delicious  in 
climate,  or  luxuriant  in  production,  could  tempt  his  $tay.     In  vain  th$ 


SERGEANT   S.  PRENTISS  299 

soft  breeze  of  the  tropics,  laden  with  aromatic  fragrance,  wooed  him  to 
rest ;  in  vain  the  smiling  valleys,  covered  with  spontaneous  fruits  and 
flowers,  invited  him  to  peaceful  quiet.  His  search  was  still  for  gold  :  the 
accursed  hunger  could  not  be  appeased.  The  simple  natives  gazed  upon 
him  in  superstitious  wonder,  and  worshipped  him  as  a  god ;  and  he 
proved  to  them  a  god,  but  an  infernal  one — terrible,  cruel  and  remors- 
less.  With  bloody  hands  he  tore  the  ornaments  from  their  persons,  and 
the  shrines  from  their  altars :  he  tortured  them  to  discover  hidden  trea- 
sure, and  slev/  them  that  he  might  search,  even  in  their  wretched  throats, 
for  concealed  gold.  Well  might  the  miserable  Indians  imagine  that  a 
race  of  evil  deities  had  come  among  them,  more  bloody  and  relentless  than 
those  who  presided  over  their  own  sanguinary  rites. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  Pilgrims.  They,  too,  were  tempted  ;  and  had 
they  yielded  to  the  temptation  how  different  might  have  been  the  destinies 
of  this  continent — how  different  must  have  been  our  own  !  Previous  to 
their  undertaking,  the  Old  World  was  filled  with  strange  and  wonderful 
accounts  of  the  New.  The  unbounded  wealth  drawn  by  the  Spaniards 
from  Mexico  and  South  America,  seemed  to  afford  rational  support  for 
the  wildest  assertions.  Bach  succeeding  adventurer,  returning  from  his 
voyage,  added  to  the  Arabian  tales  a  still  more  extravagant  story.  At 
length  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  the  most  accomplished  and  distinguished  of 
all  those  bold  voyagers,  announced  to  the  world  his  discovery  of  the 
province  of  Guiana,  and  its  magnificent  capital,  the  far-famed  city  of  El 
Dorado.  We  smile  now  at  his  account  of  the  "  great  and  golden  city," 
and  "the  mighty  rich  and  beautiful  empire."  We  can  hardly  imagine 
that  any  one  could  have  believed,  for  a  moment,  in  their  existence.  At 
that  day,  however,  the  whole  matter  was  received  with  the  most  implicit 
faith.  Sir  Walter  professed  to  have  explored  the  country,  and  thus 
glowingly  describes  it  from  his  own  observation  : 

*'  I  never  saw  a  more  beautiful  country,  nor  more  lively  prospects; 
hills  so  raised  here  and  there  over  the  valleys — the  river  winding  into 
divers  branches — the  plains  adjoining,  without  bush  or  stubble — all  fair 
green  grass — the  deer  crossing  in  every  path — the  birds,  towards  the  even- 
ing, singing  on  every  tree  with  a  thousand  several  tunes — the  air  fresh, 
with  a  gentle  easterly  wind  ;  and  every  stone  that  we  stopped  to  take  up 
promised  either  gold  or  silver  by  its  complexion.  For  health,  good  air, 
pleasure,  and  riches,  I  am  resolved  it  cannot  be  equalled  by  any  region 
either  in  the  East  or  West." 

The  Pilgrims  were  urged,  in  leaving  Holland,  to  seek  this  charming 
country,  and  plant  their  colony  amid  its  Arcadian  bowers.  Well  might 
the  poor  wanderers  cast  a  longing  glance  towards  its  happy  valleys,  which 


300  SERGEANT    S.  PRENTISS 

seemed  to  invite  to  pious  contemplation  and  peaceful  labor.  Well  might 
the  green  grass,  the  pleasant  groves,  the  tame  deer,  and  the  singing  birds 
allure  them  to  that  smiling  land  beneath  the  equinoctial  line.  But  while 
they  doubted  not  the  existence  of  this  wondrous  region,  they  resisted  its 
tempting  charms.  They  had  resolved  to  vindicate,  at  the  same  time, 
their  patriotism  and  their  principles — to  add  dominion  to  their  native 
land,  and  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  the  practicabilty  of  civil  and  relig- 
ious liberty.  After  full  discussion  and  mature  deliberation,  they  deter- 
mined that  their  great  objects  could  be  best  accomplished  by  a  settlement 
on  some  portion  of  the  northern  continent  which  would  hold  out  no 
temptation  to  cupidity,  no  inducement  to  persecution.  Putting  aside, 
then,  all  considerations  of  wealth  and  ease,  they  addressed  themselves 
with  high  resolution  to  the  accomplishment  of  their  noble  purpose.  In 
the  language  of  the  historian,  "trusting  to  God  and  themselves,"  they 
embarked  upon  their  perilous  enterprise. 

As  I  said  before,  I  shall  not  accompany  them  on  their  adventurous 
voyage.  On  the  2  2d  day  of  December,  1620,  according  to  our  present  com- 
putation, their  footsteps  pressed  the  famous  rock  which  has  ever  since 
remained  sacred  to  their  venerated  memory.  Poets,  painters,  and  orators 
have  tasked  their  powers  to  do  justice  to  this  great  scene.  Indeed,  it  is 
full  of  moral  grandeur ;  nothing  can  be  more  beautiful,  more  pathetic, 
or  more  sublime.  Behold  the  Pilgrims,  as  they  stood  on  that  cold  Decem- 
ber day — stern  men,  gentle  women,  and  feeble  children — all  uniting  in 
singing  a  hymn  of  cheerful  thanksgiving  to  the  good  God,  who  had  con- 
ducted them  safely  across  the  mighty  deep,  and  permitted  them  to  land 
upon  that  sterile  shore.  See  how  their  upturned  faces  glow  with  a  pious 
confidence,  which  the  sharp  winter  winds  cannot  chill,  nor  the  gloomy 
forest  shadows  darken  : 

"  Not  as  the  conqueror  comes, 

They,  the  true-hearted  came  ; 
Not  with  the  roll  of  the  stirring  drum, 

Nor  the  trumpet,  that  sings  of  fame  ; 
Nor  as  the  flying  come. 

In  silence  and  in  fear — 
"They  shook  the  depths  of  the  desert  gloom 

With  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer." 

Noble  and  pious  band  !    your   holy  confidence    was  not  in   vain 
your  "hymns  of  lofty  cheer  "  find  echo  still  in  the  hearts  of  grateful 
millions.     Your  descendants,  when  pressed  by  adversity,  or  when  address- 
ing themselves  to  some  high  action,  turn  to  the  "  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims," 
and  find  heart  for  any  fate — strength  for  any  enterprise. 


II 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS  (18114884) 

SLAVERY^S  RELENTLESS  FOE 


»<r\J'J0U  are  looking  for  a  man  who  is  all  art  and  thunder.  Lo  I  a 
I  I  I  (l^iet  man  glides  upon  the  platform  and  begins  talking  in  a 
simple,  easy,  conversational  way.  Presently  he  makes  you 
smile  at  some  happy  turn,  then  he  startles  you  by  a  rapier-like  thrust, 
then  electrifies  you  by  a  grand  outburst  of  feeling.  You  listen,  believe 
and  applaud.  And  that  is  Wendell  Phillips.  That  also  is  oratory — 
to  produce  the  greatest  effect  by  the  simplest  means." 

We  cannot  better  present  Wendell  Phillips  in  his  role  as  an  orator, 
than  by  this  quotation  from  one  of  his  admirers.  As  an  uncompromis- 
ing foe  to  human  slavery,  he  was  one  of  the  group  of  which  Parker 
and  Garrison  were  other  conspicuous  members.  The  assault  by  a 
Boston  mob,  led  by  gentlemen,  on  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  in  which 
the  latter  barely  escaped  with  life,  made  Phillips  an  abolitionist.  He 
took  his  stand  publicly  in  a  memorable  speech  at  Faneuil  Hall  in  1837, 
which  Dr.  Channing  designated  as  ''  morally  sublime.'^  So  bitter  did 
Phillips  become  in  his  hatred  of  the  slavery  system,  that  he  refused  to 
practice  law  under  a  Constitution  which  recognized  it,  and  was  ready 
to  welcome  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  as  an  effectual  method  of  free- 
ing the  slaves.  He  was  president  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  till  its 
dissolution  in  1870,  and  was  also  a  w^arm  advocate  of  woman  suffrage, 
prohibition,  prison  reform,  and  greenback  currency,  on  all  of  which 
he  made  eloquent  speeches. 

JOHN   BROWN  AND  LffiERTY 

[The  growing  sentiment  in  the  North  in  favor  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  rapid 
as  it  was,  moved  too  slowly  for  the  impatient  spirit  of  Wendell  Phillips,  and  when 
John  Brown  made  his  memorable  assault  on  Harper's  Ferry,  in  a  hopelessly  futile 
attempt  to  promote  an  insurrection  of  the  slaves,  Phillips  regarded  him  as  one  of  the 

301 


302  WENDELL  PHILLIPS 

great  heroes  of  humanity,  and  could  scarcely  find  words  strong  eiiough  to  express 
his  appreciation  of  the  old  man's  effort.  In  November,  1859,  while  Brown  laj'  under 
sentence  of  death,  his  defender  eulogized  him  in  the  following  exaggerated  but  vigor- 
ous style,  in  an  address  at  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn.  It  is  an  excellent  example  of 
his  oratory.] 

There  are  two  kinds  of  defeat.  Whether  in  chains  or  in  laurels, 
Liberty  knows  nothing  but  victories.  Bunker  Hill,  soldiers  call  a  defeat ! 
But  Liberty  dates  from  it,  though  Warren  lay  dead  on  the  field.  Men  say 
the  attempt  did  not  succeed.  No  man  can  command  success.  Whether 
it  was  well  planned,  and  deserved  to  succeed,  we  shall  be  able  to  decide 
when  Brown  is  free  to  tell  us  all  he  knows.  Suppose  he  did  fail,  he  has 
done  a  great  deal  still.  Why,  this  is  a  decent  country  to  live  in  now. 
Actually,  in  this  Sodom  of  ours,  seventeen  men  have  been  found  ready  to 
die  for  an  idea.  God  be  thanked  for  John  Brown,  that  he  has  discovered 
or  created  them.  I  should  feel  some  pride  if  I  were  in  Europe  now  in 
confessing  that  I  was  an  American.  We  have  redeemed  the  long  infamy 
of  twenty  years  of  subservience.  But  look  back  a  bit.  Is  there  anything 
new  about  this  ?  Nothing  at  all.  It  is  the  natural  result  of  anti-slavery 
teaching.  For  one,  I  accept  it ;  I  expected  it.  I  cannot  say  that  I  prayed 
for  it ;  I  cannot  say  that  I  hoped  for  it ;  but  at  the  same  time  no  sane  man 
has  looked  upon  this  matter  for  twenty  years  and  supposed  that  we  could 
go  through  this  great  moral  convulsion,  the  great  classes  of  society  clash- 
ing and  jostling  against  each  other  like  frigates  in  a  storm,  and  that  there 
would  not  be  such  scenes  as  these. 

Why  in  1835  it  was  the  other  way.     Then  it  was  my  bull  that  gored 
your  ox.     Their  ideas  came  in  conflict,  and  men  of  violence,  and  men  who 
had  not  made  up  their  minds  to  wait  for  the  slow  conversion  of  conscience, 
men  who  trusted  in  their  own  right  hands,  men  who  believed  in  Bowie 
knives — why  such  sacked  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  such  made  New  York 
to  be  governed  by  a  mob  ;  Boston  saw  its  mayor  suppliant  and  kneeling 
to  the  chief  of  broadcloth  in  broad   daylight.     It  was  all  on  that  side 
The  natural  result,  the  first  result  of  this  starting  of  ideas,  is  like  people 
who  get  half-awaked  and  use  the  first  weapons  that  appear  to  them.     The 
first  developing  and  unfolding  of  national  life  were  the  mobs  of  1835 
People  said  it  served  us  right ;  we  had  no  right  to  the  luxury  of  speaking 
our  own  minds;  it  was  too  expensive  :  these  lavish,  luxurious  persons 
walking  about  here  and  actually  saying  what  they  think  !     Why  it  was 
like  speaking  aloud  in  the  midst  of  avalanches.     To  say  *'  Liberty  "  in  a 
loud  tone,  the  Constitution  of  1789  might  come  down — it  would  not  do 
But  now  things  have   changed.     We   have   been   talking   thirty    years 
Twenty  years  we  have  talked  everywhere,  under  all  circumstances  ;  we 


i 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS  303 

have  been  mobbed  out  of  great  cities  and  pelted  out  of  little  ones "T we 
have  been  abused  by  great  men  and  by  little  papers. 

What  is  the  result  ?  The  tables  have  been  turned  ;  it  is  your  bull 
that  has  gored  my  ox  now.  And  men  that  still  believe  in  violence, — the 
five  points  of  whose  faith  are  the  fist,  the  Bowie  knife,  fire,  poison,  and 
the  pistol  — are  ranged  on  the  side  of  liberty,  and — unwilling  to  wait  for 
the  slow  but  sure  steps  of  thought — lay  on  God's  altar  the  best  they  have. 
You  cannot  expect  to  put  a  real  Puritan  Presbyterian,  as  John  Brown  is, 
— a  regular  Cromwellian  dug  up  from  two  centuries  ago, — in  the  midst  of  our 
New  England  civilization,  that  dares  not  say  its  soul  is  its  own,  nor  proclaim 
that  it  is  wrong  to  sell  a  man  at  auction,  and  not  have  him  show  himself  as 
he  is.  Put  a  hound  in  the  presence  of  a  deer,  and  he  springs  at  his  throat 
if  he  is  a  true  bloodhound.  Put  a  Christian  in  the  presence  of  sin,  and  he 
will  spring  at  its  throat  if  he  is  a  true  Christian.  And  so  into  an  acid  we 
might  throw  white  matter,  but  unless  it  is  chalk  it  will  not  produce  agi- 
tation. So  if  in  a  world  of  sinners  you  were  to  put  American  Christian- 
ity, it  would  be  calm  as  oil  ;  but  put  one  Christian  like  John  Brown,  of 
Ossawatomie,  and  he  makes  the  whole  crystallize  into  right  and  wrong, 
and  marshal  themselves  on  one  side  or  the  other.  And  God  makes  him 
the  text,  and  all  he  asks  of  our  comparatively  cowardly  lips  is  to  preach 
the  sermon  and  to  say  to  the  American  people  that,  whether  that  old  man 
succeeded  in  a  worldly  sense  or  not,  he  stood  a  representative  of  law  of 
government,  of  right,  of  justice,  of  religion,  and  they  were  pirates  that 
gathered  around  him  and  sought  to  wreak  vengeance  by  taking  his  life. 

The  banks  of  the  Potomac  are  doubly  dear  now  to  history  and  to 
man  !  The  dust  of  Washington  rests  there  ;  and  history  will  see  forever 
on  that  riverside  the  brave  old  man  on  his  pallet,  whose  dust,  when  God 
calls  him  hence,  the  Father  of  his  Country  would  be  proud  to  make  room 
for  beside  his  own.  But  if  Virginia  tyrants  dare  hang  him,  after  this 
mockery  of  a  trial,  it  will  take  two  more  Washingtons  at  least  to  make 
the  name  of  the  State  anything  but  abominable  to  the  ages  that  come 
after.  Well,  I  say  what  I  really  think.  George  Washington  was  a  great 
man.  Yes,  I  say  what  I  really  think.  And  I  know,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, that,  educated  as  you  have  been  by  the  experience  of  the  last  ten 
years  here,  you  would  have  thought  me  the  silliest  as  well  as  the  most 
cowardly  man  in  the  world  if  I  should  have  come,  with  my  twenty  years 
behind  me,  and  talked  about  anything  else  to-night  except  that  great 
example  which  one  man  has  set  us  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac.  You 
expected,  of  course,  that  I  should  tell  you  my  opinion  of  it. 

I  value  this  element  that  John  Brown  has  introduced  into  American 
politics  for  another  reason.     The  South  is  a  great  power.     There  are  no 


304  WENDELL  PHILLIPS 

cowards  in  Virginia.  It  was  not  cowardice.  Now,  I  try  to  speak  very 
plainly,  but  you  will  misunderstand  me.  There  is  no  cowardice  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  people  of  the  South  are  not  cowards.  The  lunatics  in  the 
Gospel  were  not  cowards  when  they  said :  ' '  Art  thou  come  to  torment  us 
before  the  time  ?  "  They  were  brave  enough,  but  they  saw  afar  off.  They 
saw  the  tremendous  power  that  was  entering  into  that  charmed  circle ; 
they  knew  its  inevitable  victory.  Virginia  did  not  tremble  at  an  old 
gray-headed  man  at  Harper's  Ferry.  They  trembled  at  a  John  Brown  in 
every  man's  own  conscience.  He  had  been  there  many  years,  and,  like 
that  terrific  scene  which  Beckworth  has  drawn  for  us  in  his  ' '  Hall  of 
Eblis,"  where  all  ran  round,  each  man  with  an  incurable  wound  in  his 
bosom,  and  agreed  not  to  speak  of  it,  so  the  South  has  been  running  up 
and  down  its  political  and  social  life,  and  every  man  keeps  his  right  hand 
pressed  on  the  secret  and  incurable  sore,  with  an  understood  agreement, 
in  Church  and  State,  that  it  never  shall  be  mentioned  for  fear  the  great 
ghastly  fabric  shall  come  to  pieces  at  the  talismanic  word.  Brown  uttered 
it,  and  the  whole  machinery  trembled  to  its  very  base. 

(XEAR  VISION  VERSUS  EDUCATION 

Some  men  seem  to  think  that  our  institutions  are  necessarily  safe 
because  we  have  free  schools  and  cheap  books  and  a  public  opinion  that 
controls.  But  this  is  no  evidence  of  safety.  India  and  China  have  had 
schools,  and  a  school-system  almost  identical  with  that  of  Massachusetts, 
for  fifteen  hundred  years.  And  books  are  as  cheap  in  Central  and  Northern 
Asia  as  they  are  in  New  York.  But  they  have  not  secured  liberty,  nor 
secured  a  controlling  public  opinion,  to  either  nation.  Spain  for  three 
centuries  had  municipalities  and  town  governments,  as  independent  and 
self-supporting,  and  as  representatative  of  thought,  as  New  England  or 
New  York  has.  But  that  did  not  save  Spain.  De  Tocqueville  says  that 
three  years  before  the  great  Revolution,  public  opinion  was  as  omnipotent 
in  France  as  it  is  to-day  ;  but  it  did  not  save  France.  You  cannot  save 
men  by  machinery.  What  India  and  France  and  Spain  wanted  was  live 
men,  and  that  is  what  we  want  to-day ;  men  who  are  willing  to  look  their 
own  destiny,  and  their  own  functions  and  their  own  responsibilities  in  the 
face.  "  Grant  me  to  see,  and  Ajax  wants  no  more,"  was  the  prayer  the 
great  poet  put  into  the  lips  of  his  hero  in  the  darkness  that  overspread  the 
Grecian  camp.  All  we  want  of  American  citizens  is  the  opening  of  their 
own  eyes  and  seeing  things  as  they  are. — (         .) 


RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON  (18034882) 

THE  PHILOSOPHER,  POET  AND  ORATOR 


AMERICA  has  produced  only  one  Emerson,  one  to  whom  all 
nature  was  a  song  of  beauty  and  use,  to  whom  flower  and  weed 
'  alike  told  the  story  of  uplifting,  who  looked  through  the  veil 
of  the  future  and  saw  man  growing  ever  higher  and  nobler,  wrong 
ever  giving  way  to  right,  and  glory  replacing  gloom.  Emerson  was 
an  evolutionist  by  nature.  He  offered  no  theory  of  means  and 
methods,  but  endless  progress  was  to  him  the  inherent  law  of  the 
universe.  He  was  at  once  essayist,  poet  and  orator ;  but  in  all 
these  he  was  one,  the  social  optimist  and  philosopher.  His  essays  read 
like  strings  of  verbal  gems,  epigrams  and  apothegms  linked  together 
by  one  common  significance.  The  same  may,  in  a  measure,  be 
said  of  his  orations.  His  was  the  eloquence  of  the  ideal.  His  sen- 
tences are  crowded  with  striking  thoughts,  and  only  thinkers  could 
justly  appreciate  him — the  deepest  thinker  of  his  times. 

MAN  THE  REFORMER 

[We  subjoin  an  extract  from  one  of  Emerson's  lectures  which  will  serve  as  a 
fair  example  of  his  method  of  speech  and  field  of  thought.  Whatever  he  said  was  of 
an  elevating  tendency,  and  all  his  thoughts  rang  true  to  the  spirit  of  love  and  aspira- 
tion that  inspired  him.] 

What  is  man  born  for  but  to  be  a  Reformer  ;  a  re-maker  of  what  man 
has  made  ;  a  renouncer  of  lies  ;  a  restorer  of  truth  and  good,  imitating 
that  great  Nature  which  embosoms  us  all,  and  which  sleeps  no  moment 
on  an  old  past,  but  every  hour  repairs  herself,  yielding  ns  every  hour  a 
new  day,  and  with  every  pulsation  a  new  life?  Let  him  renounce  every- 
thing which  is  not  true  to  him,  and  put  all  his  practices  back  on  their  first 
thoughts,  and  do  nothing  for  which  he  has  not  the  whole  world  for  his 
reason.  If  there  are  inconveniences,  and  what  is  called  ruin,  in  the  way, 
20  305 


30G  RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON 

because  we  have  so  enervated  and  maimed  ourselves,  yet  it  would  be  like 
dying  of  perfumes  to  sink  in  the  effort  to  reattach  the  deeds  of  every  day 
to  the  holy  and  mysterious  recesses  of  life. 

The  power  which  is  at  once  spring  and  regulator  in  all  efforts  of 
reform,  is  the  conviction  that  there  is  an  infinite  worthiness  in  man  which 
will  appear  at  the  call  of  worth,  and  that  all  particular  reforms  are  the 
removing  of  some  impediment.  Is  it  not  the  highest  duty  that  man  should 
be  honored  in  us  ?  I  ought  not  to  allow  any  man ,  because  he  has  broad 
lands,  to  feel  that  he  is  rich  in  my  presence.  I  ought  to  make  him  feel 
that  I  can  do  without  his  riches,  that  I  cannot  be  bought, — neither  by 
comfort,  neither  by  pride, — and  though  I  be  utterly  penniless,  and  receiv- 
ing bread  from  him,  that  he  is  the  poor  man  beside  me.  And  if,  at  the 
same  time,  a  woman  or  a  child  discover  a  sentiment  of  piety,  or  a  juster 
way  of  thinking  than  mine,  I  ought  to  confess  it  by  my  respect  and  obedi- 
ence, though  it  go  to  alter  my  whole  way  of  life. 

The  Americans  have  many  virtues,  but  they  have  not  Faith  and 
Hope.  I  know  no  two  words  whose  meaning  is  more  lost  sight  of.  We 
use  these  words  as  if  they  were  as  obsolete  as  Selah  and  Amen.  And 
yet  they  have  the  broadest  meaning,  and  the  most  cogent  application  i 
Boston  in  1841.  The  Americans  have  no  faith.  They  rely  on  the  powe; 
of  a  dollar  ;  they  are  deaf  to  a  sentiment.  They  think  you  may  talk  th 
north  wind  down  as  easily  as  raise  society ;  and  no  class  more  faithl 
than  the  scholars  or  intellectual  men 

Every  triumph  and  commanding  moment  in  the  annals  of  the  worl 
is  the  triumph  of  some  enthusiasm.  The  victories  of  the  Arabs  aftei 
Mahomet,  who,  in  a  few  years,  from  a  small  and  mean  beginning,  estab- 
lished a  larger  empire  than  that  of  Rome,  is  an  example.  They  did  they 
knew  not  what.  The  naked  Derar,  horsed  on  an  idea,  was  found  an  over- 
match for  a  troop  of  Roman  cavalry.  The  women  fought  like  men,  and 
conquered  the  Roman  men.  They  were  miserably  equipped,  miserably 
fed.  They  were  Temperance  troops.  There  was  neither  brandy  nor  flesh 
needed  to  feed  them.  They  conquered  Asia  and  Africa  and  Spain  on 
barley.  The  Caliph  Omar's  walking-stick  struck  more  terror  into  those 
who  saw  it  than  another  man's  sword.  His  diet  was  barley  bread  ;  his 
sauce  was  salt ;  and  ofttimes,  by  way  of  abstinence,  he  ate  his  bread 
without  salt.  His  drink  was  water  ;  his  palace  was  built  of  mud  ;  and 
when  he  left  Medina  to  go  to  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem,  he  rode  on  a  red 
camel,  with  a  wooden  platter  hanging  at  his  saddle,  with  a  bottle  of  water 
and  two  sacks,  one  holding  barley  and  the  other  dried  fruits. 

But  there  will  dawn  ere  long  on  our  politics,  on  our  modes  of  living,. 
a  nobler  morning  than  that  Arabian  faith,  in  the  sentiment  of  love.     This 


I 


I 


RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON  307 

is  the  one  remedy  for  all  ills,  the  panacea  of  nature.  We  must  be  lovers, 
and  at  once  the  impossible  becomes  possible.  Our  age  and  history  for 
these  thousand  years  has  not  been  the  history  of  kindness,  but  of  selfish- 
ness. Our  distrust  is  very  expensive.  The  money  we  spend  for  courts  and 
prisons  is  very  ill  laid  out.  We  make  by  distrust  the  thief  and  burglar  and 
incendiary,  and  by  our  court  and  jail  we  keep  him  so.  An  acceptance  of 
the  sentiment  of  love  throughout  Christendom  for  a  season  would  bring  the 
felon  and  the  outcast  to  our  side  in  tears,  with  the  devotion  of  his  faculties 
to  our  service.  See  this  wide  society  of  laboring  men  and  women.  We 
allow  ourselves  to  be  served  by  them,  we  live  apart  from  them,  and  meet 
them  without  a  salute  in  the  streets.  We  do  not  greet  their  talents,  nor 
rejoice  in  their  good  fortune,  nor  foster  their  hopes,  nor  in  the  assembly  of 
the  people  vote  for  what  is  dear  to  them.     Thus  we  enact  the  part  of  the 

selfish  noble  and  king  from  the  foundation  of  the  world 

L<et  our  affection  flow  out  to  our  fellows  ;  it  would  operate  in  a  day 
the  greatest  of  all  revolutions.  It  is  better  to  work  on  institutions  by  the 
sun  than  by  the  wind.  The  state  must  consider  the  poor  man,  and  all 
voices  must  speak  for  hira.  Every  child  that  is  born  must  have  a  just 
chance  for  his  bread.  Let  the  amelioration  in  our  laws  of  property  pro- 
ceed from  the  concession  of  the  rich,  not  from  the  grasping  of  the  poor. 
Let  us  begin  by  habitual  imparting.  Let  us  understand  that  the  equitable 
rule  is,  that  no  one  should  take  more  than  his  share,  let  him  be  ever  so 
rich.  Let  me  feel  that  I  am  to  be  a  lover.  I  am  to  see  to  it  that  the 
world  is  the  better  for  me  and  to  find  my  reward  in  the  act.  Love  would 
put  a  new  face  on  this  weary  old  world,  in  which  we  dwell  as  pagans  and 
'  enemies  too  long,  and  it  would  warm  the  heart  to  see  how  fast  the  vain 
diplomacy  of  statesmen,  the  impotence  of  armies  and  navies  and  lines 
of  defense  would  be  superseded  by  this  unarmed  child.  Love  will  creep 
where  it  cannot  go,  will  accomplish  that  by  imperceptible  methods — being 
its  own  lever,  fulcrum  and  power — which  force  could  never  achieve. 
Have  you  not  seen  in  the  woods,  in  a  late  autumn  morning,  a  poor  fungus 
or  mushroom, — a  plant  without  any  solidity,  nay,  that  seemed  nothing 
but  a  soft  mush  or  jelly, — by  its  constant,  total,  and  inconceivably  gentle 
pushing,  manage  to  break  its  way  up  through  the  frosty  ground,  and 
actually  to  lift  a  hard  crust  on  its  head  ?  It  is  the  symbol  of  the  power  of 
kindness.  The  virtue  of  this  principle  in  human  society  in  application  to 
great  interests  is  obsolete  and  forgotten.  Once  or  twice  in  history  it  has 
been  tried  in  illustrious  instances,  with  signal  success.  This  great,  over- 
grown, dead  Christendom  of  ours  still  keeps  alive  at  least  the  name  of  a 
!  lover  of  mankind.  But  one  day  all  men  will  be  lovers,  and  every 
'  calamity  will  be  dissolved  in  the  universal  sunshine. 


GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS  (1 8244892; 

THE  EASY-CHAIR  PHILOSOPHER 


mT  was  in  the  National  Republican  Convention  of  1884  that 
George  William  Curtis  decisively  declared  himself  on  the 
subject  of  party  politics.  On  a  proposition  being  made  that 
all  delegates  should  bind  themselves  to  support  the  nominee  of  the 
Convention,  Curtis  rose  and  firmly  said  :  "  Gentlemen  of  the  Conven- 
tion :  A  Republican  and  a  free  man  I  came  into  this  Convention ; 
by  the  grace  of  God,  a  Republican  and  a  free  man  will  I  go  out  of  this 
Convention."  This  ringing  declaration  checked  the  movement  to 
bind  the  minds  of  the  members,  and  gave  rise  to  the  independent  Repub- 
lican movement  of  that  year.  A  graceful  and  often  a  brilliant  writer, 
Curtis  also  won  a  high  reputation  as  a  lecturer  and  public  speaker,  and 
was  long  a  favorite  with  American  audiences. 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS  AND  HIS  LIFE  LABOR 
[Wendell  Phillips,  looked  upon  by  many  as  an  unmanageable  agitator,  had  a 
highly  moral  "method  in  his  madness,"  as  an  uncompromisiug  foe  of  human  slavery 
and  of  the  oppression  of  labor  in  any  form.  Chief  among  those  who  gave  him  credit 
for  the  utility  and  humanity  of  his  life  work  was  George  William  Curtis,  whose  eloquent 
oration  in  Tremont  Temple,  Boston  April  i8,  1884,  was  one  of  the  finest  tributes  to  the 
memory  of  the  famous  abolitionist.     We  give  the  most  effective  portion  of  this  address.] 

When  the  war  ended,  and  the  specific  purpose  of  his  relentless  agita- 
tion was  accomplished,  Phillips  was  still  in  the  prime  of  life.  Had  his 
mind  recurred  to  the  dreams  of  earlier  years,  had  he  desired,  in  the  fulness 
of  his  frame  and  the  maturity  of  his  powers,  to  turn  to  the  political  career 
which  the  hopes  of  the  friends  of  his  youth  had  forecast,  I  do  not  doubt 
that  the  Massachusetts  of  Sumner  and  of  Andrew,  proud  of  his  genius  and 
owning  his  immense  service  to  the  triumphant  cause,  although  a  service 
beyond  the  party  line,  and  often  apparently  directed  against  the  party 
itself,  would  have  gladly  summoned  him  to  duty.  It  would,  indeed,  have 
308 


I 
I 


GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS  309 

been  a  kind  of  peerage  for  this  great  Commoner.  But  not  to  repose  and 
peaceful  honor  did  this  earnest  soul  incline.  *' Now  that  the  field  is 
won,"  he  said  gaily  to  a  friend,  "  do  you  sit  by  the  camp-fire,  but  I  will 
put  out  into  the  underbrush."  The  slave,  indeed,  was  free,  but  emanci- 
pation did  not  free  the  agitator  from  his  task.  The  client  that  suddenly 
appeared  before  him  on  that  memorable  October  day  was  not  an  oppressed 
race  alone;  it  was  wronged  humanity  ;  it  was  the  victim  of  unjust  sys- 
tems and  unequal  laws  ;  it  was  the  poor  man,  the  weak  man,  the  unfor- 
tunate man,  whoever  and  whatever  he  might  be.  This  was  the  cause  that 
he  would  still  plead  in  the  forum  of  public  opinion.  "  I<et  it  not  be  said," 
he  wrote  to  a  meeting  of  his  old  abolition  friends  two  months  before  his 
death,  * '  that  the  old  abolitionist  stopped  with  the  negro,  and  was  never  able 
to  see  that  the  same  principles  claimed  his  utmost  effort  to  protect  all  labor, 
white  and  black,  and  to  further  the  discussion  of  every  claim  of  humanity." 

Was  this  the  habit  of  mere  agitation,  the  restless  discontent  that 
followed  great  achievement?  There  were  those  who  thought  so.  But 
they  were  critics  of  a  temperament  which  did  not  note  that  with  Phillips 
agitation  was  a  principle,  and  a  deliberately  chosen  method  to  definite 
ends.  There  were  still  vast  questions  springing  from  the  same  root  of  self- 
ishness and  injustice  as  the  question  of  slavery.  They  must  force  a  hear- 
ing in  the  same  way.  He  v/ould  not  adopt  in  middle  life  the  career  of 
politics  which  he  had  renounced  in  youth,  however  seductive  that  career 
might  be,  whatever  its  opportunities  and  rewards,  because  the  purpose 
had  grown  with  his  growth  and  strengthened  with  his  strength  to  form 
public  opinion  rather  than  to  represent  it,  in  making  or  executing  the 
laws.  To  form  public  opinion  upon  vital  public  questions  by  public  dis- 
cussion, bvit  by  public  discussion  absolutely  fearless  and  sincere,  and  con- 
ducted with  honest  faith  in  the  people  to  whom  the  argument  was 
addressed — this  was  the  service  which  he  had  long  performed,  and  this  he 
would  still  perform,  and  in  the  familiar  way 

No  man,  I  say,  can  take  a  pre-eminent  and  effective  part  in  conten- 
tions that  shake  nations,  or  in  the  discussion  of  great  national  policies,  of 
foreign  relations,  of  domestic  economy  and  finance,  without  keen  reproach 
and  fierce  misconception.  "But  death,"  says  Bacon,  ''bringeth  good 
fame."  Then,  if  moral  integrity  remain  unsoiled,  the  purpose  pure, 
blameless  the  life,  and  patriotism  as  shining  as  the  sun,  conflicting  views 
and  differing  counsels  disappear,  and,  firmly  fixed  upon  character  and 
actual  achievement,  good  fame  rests  secure.  Eighty  years  ago,  in  this 
city,  how  unsparing  was  the  denunciation  of  John  Adams  for  betraying 
and  ruining  his  party  ;  for  his  dogmatism,  his  vanity  and  ambition  ;  for  his 
exasperating  impracticability — he,  the  Colossus  of  the  Revolution  !     And 


310  GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS 

Thomas  JeiFerson  ?  I  may  truly  say  what  the  historian  says  of  the  Sara- 
cen mothers  and  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  that  the  mothers  of  Boston 
hushed  their  children  with  fear  of  the  political  devil -incarnate  of  Virginia. 
But,  when  the  drapery  of  mourning  shrouded  the  columns  and  overhung 
the  arches  of  Faneuil  Hall,  Daniel  Webster  did  not  remember  that  some- 
times John  Adams  was  imprudent  and  Thomas  Jeiferson  sometimes  unwise. 
He  remembered  only  that  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson  were  two  of 
the  greatest  American  patriots — and  their  fellow-citizens  of  every  party 
bowed  their  heads  and  said,  Amen.  I  am  not  here  to  declare  that  the 
judgment  of  Wendell  Phillips  was  always  sound,  nor  his  estimate  of  men 
always  just,  nor  his  policy  always  approved  by  the  event.  He  would 
have  scorned  such  praise.  I  am  not  here  to  eulogize  the  mortal,  but  the 
immortal.  He,  too,  was  a  great  American  patriot ;  and  no  American  life — 
no,  not  one — offers  to  future  generations  of  his  countrymen  a  more  price- 
less example  of  inflexible  fidelity  to  conscience  and  to  public  duty  ;  and 
no  American  more  truly  than  he  purged  the  national  name  of  its  shame, 
and  made  the  American  flag  the  flag  of  hope  for  mankind. 

Among  her  noblest  children  his  native  city  will  cherish  him,  and 
gratefully  recall  the  unbending  Puritan  soul  that  dwelt  in  a  form  so 
gracious  and  urbane.  The  plain  house  in  which  he  lived, — severely  plain, 
because  the  welfare  of  the  suffering  and  the  slave  were  preferred  to  books 
and  pictures  and  every  fair  device  of  art ;  the  house  to  which  the  North 
Star  led  the  trembling  fugitive,  and  which  the  unfortunate  and  the  friend- 
less knew  ;  the  radiant  figure  passing  swiftly  through  these  streets,  plain  I 
as  the  house  from  which  it  came,  regal  with  a  royalty  beyond  that  of 
kings  ;  the  ceaseless  charity  untold  ;  the  strong  sustaining  heart  of  private 
friendship  ;  the  sacred  domestic  affections  that  must  not  here  be  named  ; 
the  eloquence  which,  like  the  song  of  Orpheus,  will  fade  from  living 
memory  into  a  doubtful  tale ;  that  great  scene  of  his  youth  in  Faneuil 
Hall ;  the  surrender  of  ambition ;  the  mighty  agitation  and  the  mighty 
triumph  with  which  his  name  is  forever  blended  ;  the  consecration  of  a 
life  hidden  with  God  in  sympathy  with  man — these,  all  these,  will  live 
among  your  immortal  traditions,  heroic  even  in  your  heroic  story.  But 
not  yours  alone  !  As  years  go  by,  and  only  the  large  outlines  of  lofty 
American  characters  and  careers  remain,  the  wide  republic  will  confess 
the  benediction  of  a  life  like  this,  and  gladly  own  that,  if  with  perfect 
faith  and  hope  assured  America  would  still  stand  and  * '  bid  the  distant 
generations  hail,"  the  inspiration  of  her  national  life  must  be  the  sublime 
moral  courage,  the  all-embracing  humanity,  the  spotless  integrity,  the 
absolutely  unselfish  devotion  of  great  powers  to  great  public  ends,  whi< 
were  the  glory  of  Wendell  Phillips. 


I 


JOSEPH  COOK  (J838-J90J) 

THE  BOSTON  MONDAY  LECTURER 


ryrjMONG  men  who  seem  born  with  the  capability  of  handling 
iJW  every  subject,  and  treating  all  with  a  fair  degree  of  effective- 
^  '  ness,  may  he  named  Joseph  Cook,  the  famed  Monday  lecturer. 
Educated  at  Yale  and  Harvard  Universities  and  in  Germany,  he  gave 
four  years  to  study  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  which  he  left 
with  a  license  to  preach,  and  spent  four  years  in  the  pulpit.  He 
subsequently  became  of  great  repute  as  a  lecturer,  speaking  to  great 
audiences  on  Mondays,  at  Boston,  for  twenty  years,  and  lecturing 
widely  in  all  English-speaking  countries.  His  Monday  lectures 
have  been  published  in  ten  volumes  covering  such  diverse  subjects 
as  ''Biology,"  "Orthodoxy,"  "Transcendentalism,"  "Conscience," 
"  Heredity,"  etc.  As  an  orator  Mr.  Cook  was  fluent  and  facile, 
with  fine  powers  of  description  and  a  warm  imagination. 

EFnaENT  BUT  NOT  SUFFICIENT 

[From  Mr.  Cook's  very  numerous  addresses  we  choose  a  striking  extract  from 
one  of  the  best,  a  lecture  delivered  in  New  York  on  July  4,  1884,  its  subject,  "  Ulti- 
mate America."  In  it  he  gave  a  prophetic  vision  of  the  forces  upon  which  national 
greatness  is  based.     This  highly-imaginative  conception  is  given  below.] 

Once  in  the  blue  midnight,  in  my  study  on  Beacon  Hill,  in  Boston,  I 
fell  into  long  thought  as  I  looked  out  on  the  land  and  on  the  sea  ;  and 
passing  through  the  gate  of  dreams,  I  saw  the  angel  having  charge  of 
America  stand  in  the  air,  above  the  continent,  and  his  wings  shadowed 
either  shore.  Around  him  were  gathered  all  who  at  Valley  Forge  and  at 
Andersonville  and  the  other  sacred  places  suffered  for  the  preservation  of  a 
virtuous  Republic  ;  and  they  conversed  of  what  was  and  is  and  is  to  be. 
There  was  about  the  angel  a  multitude  whom  no  man  could  number,  of 
all  nations  and  kindreds  and  tribes  and  tongues,  and  their  voices  were  as 

311 


312  JOSEPH  COOK 

the  sound  of  many  waters.  And  I  heard  thunderings  and  saw  lightnings 
and  the  majesty  of  his  words  above  that  of  the  thunders. 

Then  came  forth  before  the  angel  three  spirits  whose  garments  were 
as  white  as  the  light ;  and  I  saw  not  their  faces,  but  I  heard  the  ten  thou- 
sand times  ten  thousand  call  them  by  names  known  on  earth, — Washing- 
ton and  Lincoln  and  Garfield.  And  behind  them  stood  Hampden  and 
Tell  and  Miltiades  and  Leonidas  and  a  multitude  who  had  scars  and 
crowns.  And  they  said  to  the  angel :  "We  will  go  on  earth  and  teach 
the  diffusion  of  liberty.  We  will  heal  America  by  equality."  And  the 
angel  said  :   '*  Go.     You  will  be  efficient,  but  not  sufficient." 

Meanwhile,  under  emigrant  wharves,  and  under  the  hovels  of  the 
perishing  poor,  and  under  crowded  factories,  and  under  the  poisonous 
alleys  of  great  cities,  I  heard,  far  in  the  subterranean  depths,  the  black 
angels  laugh. 

Then  came  forward  before  the  angel  three  other  spirits,  whose  gar- 
ments were  white  as  the  light ;  and  I  saw  not  their  faces,  but  I  heard  the 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  call  them  by  names  known  on  earth, — 
Franklin  and  Hamilton  and  Irving.  And  behind  them  stood  Pestalozzi 
and  Shakespeare  and  Bacon  and  Aristotle  and  a  multitude  who  had  scrolls 
and  crowns.  And  they  said  to  the  angel:  "We  will  go  on  earth  and 
teach  the  diffusion  of  intelligence.  We  will  heal  America  by  knowledge," 
And  the  angel  said  :  "Go.     You  will  be  efficient,  but  not  sufficient." 

Meanwhile,  under  the  emigrant  wharves  and  crowded  factories,  and 
under  Washington,  and  under  scheming  conclaves  of  man  acute  and 
unscrupulous,  and  under  many  newspaper  presses,  and  beneath  Wall 
Street,  and  under  the  poisonous  alleys  of  great  cities,  I  heard  the  black 
angels  laugh. 

Then  came  forward  before  the  angel  three  other  spirits  whom  I  heard 
the  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  call  by  names  known  on  earth, — 
Adams  and  Jefferson  and  Webster.  And  behind  them  stood  Chatham 
and  Wilberforce  and  Howard  and  the  Roman  Gracchi  and  a  multitude 
who  had  keys  and  crowns.  And  they  said  to  the  angel :  "  We  will  go  on. 
earth  and  teach  diffusion  of  property.  We  will  heal  America  by  the  self- 
respect  of  ownership. "  And  the  angel  said,  "  Go.  You  will  be  efficient,, 
but  not  sufficient." 

Meanwhile,  under  emigrant  wharves  and  crowded  factories,  and 
beneath  Wall  Street,  and  under  the  poisonous  alleys  of  suffocated  great 
cities,  I  heard  yet  the  black  angels  laugh. 

Then  came,  lastly,  forward  before  the  angel  three  other  spirits,  with 
garments  w^hite  as  the  light ;  and  I  saw  not  their  faces,  but  I  heard  the 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  call  them  by  names  known  on  earth,- 


JOSEPH  COOK  323 

Edwards  and  Dwight  and  Whitefield.  And  behind  them  stood  Wicklifife 
and  Cranmer  and  Wesley  and  Luther  and  a  multitude  who  had  harps  and 
crowns.  And  they  said  to  the  angel  ;  "  We  will  go  on  earth  and  teach  the 
diffusion  of  conscientiousness.  We  will  heal  America  by  righteousness." 
Then  the  angel  arose,  and  lifted  up  his  far-gleaming  hand  to  the  heaven 
of  heavens,  and  said?  "  Go.  Not  in  the  first  three,  but  only  in  all  four 
of  these  leaves  from  the  tree  of  life,  is  to  be  found  the  healing  of  the 
nations, — the  diffusion  of  liberty,  the  diffusion  of  intelligence,  the  diffu- 
sion of  property,  the  diffusion  of  conscientiousness.  You  will  be  more 
than  ever  efiBcient,  but  not  sufficient." 

I  listened,  and  under  Plymouth  Rock  and  the  universities  there  was 
no  sound  ;  but  under  emigrant  wharves  and  crowded  factories,  and  under 
Wall  Street,  and  in  poisonous  alleys  of  great  cities,  I  heard  yet  the  black 
angels  laugh  ;  but,  with  the  laughter  there  came  up  now  from  beneath  a 
clanking  of  chains. 

Then  I  looked,  and  the  whole  firmament  above  the  angel  was  as  if  it 
were  one  azure  eye ;  and  into  it  the  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand 
gazed  ;  'and  I  saw  that  they  stood  in  one  palm  of  a  Hand  of  Him  into 
whose  face  they  gazed,  and  that  the  soft  axle  of  the  world  stood  upon  the 
finger  of  another  palm,  and  that  both' palms  were  pierced.  I  saw  the 
twelve  spirits  which  had  gone  forth  and  they  joined  hands  with  each 
other  and  with  the  twelve  hours,  and  moved  perpetually  about  the  globe ; 
and  I  heard  a  voice,  after  which  there  was  no  laughter :  "Ye  are  efficient, 
but  I  am  sufficient  r" 


JOHN  B.  GOUGH  (J817-J886) 

THE  FAMOUS  TEMPERANCE  ADVCXIATE 


|E  who  can  best  make  himself  felt  on  any  subject  is  he  who  has 
gone  through  the  fire  of  experience.  Thus  it  was  with  John 
B.  Gough,  the  eminent  temperance  lecturer.  While  learning 
the  bookbinding  trade  in  New  York  he  fell  into  the  habit  of  drinking, 
and  for  ten  years  was  such  a  slave  to  intemperance  that  he  sank  into 
the  lowest  depths  of  poverty  and  wretchedness.  About  1840  he  was 
induced  to  sign  the  total- abstinence  pledge,  and  from  that  time  forward 
devoted  his  life  to  the  reclamation  of  the  intemperate.  Gifted  by  nature  • 
with  fine  powers  of  emotional  oratory,  and  combining  with  this  the  I 
qualities  of  an  actor,  he  soon  distinguished  himself  as  the  most  elo- 
quent and  successful  advocate  of  the  temperance  cause.  Oratory, 
anecdote,  impersonation,  impassioned  relations  of  his  own  degrada- 
tion, combined  in  him  to  yield  a  wonderful  effect  upon  his  audiences. 
He  lectured  for  many  years  widely  through  the  English  speaking 
world,  and  doubtless  was  the  happy  instrument  for  saving  myriads 
from  the  curse  of  drink. 

THE  TEMPERANCE  CAUSE 

[Gough's  orations  on  his  chosen  subject  were  multitudinous.  The  utmost  we 
can  do  here  is  to  offer  an  extract  showing  his  manner  of  speech.  But  few  orators 
depended  more  than  he  upon  the  manner,  rather  than  the  matter,  of  his  addresses 
for  his  effect  upon  an  audience.  He  acted  as  well  as  spoke,  and  his  orations  were  in 
their  way  examples  of  histrionic  ability.] 

Our  enterprise  is  in  advance  of  the  public  sentiment,  and  those  who 
carry  it  on  are  glorious  iconoclasts,  who  are  going  to  break  down  the  drunken 
dragon  worshipped  by  their  fathers.  Count  me  over  the  chosen  heroes  of 
this  earth,  and  I  will  show  you  men  that  stood  alone — ay,  alone,  while 
those  they  toiled,  and  labored,  and  agonized  for,  hurled  at  them  contumelyi 
314 


JOHN  B.  GOUGH  3^5 

scorn,  and  contempt.  They  stood  alone  ;  they  looked  into  the  future 
calmly,  and  with  faith  ;  they  saw  the  golden  beam  inclining  to  the  side  of 
perfect  justice ;  and  they  fought  on  amid  the  storm  of  persecution.  In 
Great  Britain  they  tell  me  when  I  go  to  see  such  a  prison  :  * '  Here  is  such 
a  dungeon,  in  which  such  a  one  was  confined  ;  "  <'  Here,  among  the  ruins 
of  an  old  castle,  we  will  show  you  where  such  a  one  had  his  ears  cut  off, 
and  where  another  was  murdered."  Then  they  will  show  me  monuments 
towering  up  to  the  heavens.  "  There  is  a  monument  to  such  a  one  ;  there 
is  a  monument  to  another. "  And  what  do  I  find  ?  That  the  one  genera- 
tion persecuted  and  howled  at  these  men,  crying,  "  Crucify  them  !  crucify 
them  !  "  and  danced  around  the  blazing  fagots  that  consumed  them  ;  and 
the  next  generation  busied  itself  in  gathering  up  the  scattered  ashes  of  the 
martyred  heroes,  and  depositing  them  in  the  golden  urn  of  a  nation's  his- 
tory. O,  yes  !  the  men  that  fight  for  a  great  enterprise  are  the  men  that 
bear  the  brunt  of  the  battle,  and  '*  He  who  seeth  in  secret  " — seeth  the 
desire  of  his  children,  their  steady  purpose,  their  firm  self-denial — "will 
reward  them  openly, ' '  though  they  may  die  and  see  no  sign  of  the  triumphs 
of  their  enterprise. 

Our  cause  is  a  progressive  one.  I  read  the  first  constitution  of  the 
first  temperance  society  formed  in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  1809,  and 
one  of  the  by-laws  stated,  "  Any  member  of  this  association  who  shall  be 
convicted  of  intoxication  shall  be  fined  a  quarter  of  a  dollar,  except  such 
act  of  intoxication  shall  take  place  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  or  any  other 
regularly  appointed  military  muster. "  We  laugh  at  that  now  ;  but  it  was 
a  serious  matter  in  those  days  :  it  was  in  advance  of  the  public  sentiment 
of  the  age.  The  very  men  that  adopted  that  principle  were  persecuted  ; 
they  were  hooted  and  pelted  through  the  streets,  the  doors  of  their  houses 
were  blackened,  their  cattle  mutilated.  The  fire  of  persecution  scorched 
some  men  so  that  they  left  the  work.  Others  worked  on,  and  God  blessed 
them.  Some  are  living  to-day  ;  and  I  should  like  to  stand  where  they 
stand  now,  and  see  the  mighty  enterprise  as  it  rises  before  them.  They 
worked  hard.  They  lifted  the  first  turf — prepared  the  bed  in  which  to  lay 
the  corner-stone.  They  laid  it  amid  persecution  and  storm.  They  worked 
under  the  surface  ;  and  men  almost  forgot  that  there  were  busy  hands  lay- 
ing the  solid  foundation  far  down  beneath.  By-and-by  they  got  the  foun- 
dation above  the  surface,  and  then  commenced  another  storm  of  persecu- 
tion. Now  we  see  the  superstructure — pillar  after  pillar,  tower  after 
tower,  column  after  column,  with  the  capitals  emblazoned  with  "  lyOve, 
truth,  sympathy,  and  good-will  to  men."  Old  men  gaze  upon  it  as  it 
grows  up  before  them.  They  will  not  live  to  see  it  completed,  but  they 
see  in  faith  the  crowning  cope-stc***  set  upon  it.     Meek-eyed  women  weep 


316 


JOHN  B.  GOUGH 


as  it  grows  in  beauty  ;  children  strew  the  pathway  of  the  workmen  with 
flowers.  We  do  not  see  its  beauty  yet — we  do  not  see  the  magnificence  of 
its  superstructure  yet — because  it  is  in  course  of  erection.  Scaffolding, 
ropes,  ladders,  workmen  ascending  and  descending,  mar  the  beauty  of  the 
building  ;  but  by-and-by,  when  the  hosts  who  have  labored  shall  come  up 
over  a  thousand  battle-fields,  waving  with  bright  grain,  never  again  to  be 
crushed  in  the  distillery  ;  through  vineyards,  under  trellised  vines,  wdth 
grapes  hanging  in  all  their  purple  glory,  never  again  to  be  pressed  into 
that  which  can  debase  and  degrade  mankind — when  they  shall  come 
through  orchards,  under  trees  hanging  thick  with ^  golden,  pulpy  fruit, 
never  to  be  turned  into  that  which  can  injure  and  debase — when  they  shall 
come  up  to  the  last  distillery  and  destroy  it ;  to  the  last  stream  of  liquid 
death,  and  dry  it  up  ;  to  the  last  weeping  wife,  and  wipe  her  tears  gently 
away  ;  to  the  last  little  child,  and  lift  him  up  to  stand  where  God  meant 
that  man  should  stand  ;  to  the  last  drunkard,  and  nerve  him  to  burst  the 
burning  fetters  and  make  a  glorious  accompaniment  to  the  song  of  freedom 
by  the  clanking  of  his  broken  chains — then,  ah  !  then  will  the  cope-stone 
be  set  upon  it,  the  scaffolding  will  fall  with  a  crash,  and  the  building  will 
start  in  its  wondrous  beauty  before  an  astonished  world.  The  last  poor 
drunkard  shall  go  into  it,  and  find  a  refuge  there  ;  loud  shouts  of  rejoic- 
ing shall  be  heard,  and  there  shall  be  joy  in  Heaven,  when  the  triumphs 
of  a  great  enterprise  shall  usher  in  the  day  of  the  triumphs  of  Christ.  I 
believe  it ;  on  my  soul,  I  believe  it.  Will  you  help  us  ?  That  is  the 
question.     We  leave  it  with  you.     Good-night. 


ROBERT  a  INGERSOLL  (J833-I899) 

A  MASTER  OF  THE  POETRY  OF  PROSE 


mNGERSOLL  was  an  orator  among  orators,  a  man  of  extraordi- 
nary eloquence  and  unsurpassed  control  over  his  audience.    His 
sentences  breathe  music  and  read  like  poetry.     So  rythmical 
I   is  his  language  that  it  might  almost  be  divided   up  into  epic  verse. 
!   Many  deplored  his  power,  for  it  was  exerted  in  what  was,  to  the 
I   Christian  "World,  a  wrongful  cause.     He  was  best  known  as  an  oppo- 
;   nent  of  Biblical  interpretation, — the  cultured  Tom  Paine  of  modern 
times, — while  his  remarkable  powers  in  oratory  enabled  him  to  win 
far  more  converts  to  his  views  than  Paine  ever  did.     Yet  our  language 
does  not  contain  a  more  truly  religious  oration  than  that  spoken  by 
him   over  his  brother's  grave ;  a   eulogy  more  instinct   with  tender 
feeling  and  lofty  sentiment.     Ingersoll  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  a 
cavalry  colonel  in  the  Civil  War,  and  later  was  Attorney-General  of 

Illinois. 

BLAINE,  THE  PLUMED  KNIGHT 

[Ingersoll's  oratory  was  not  confined  to  religious — or  irreligious — subjects.     He 

won  fame  as  a  political  orator  as  well.     And  in  this  field  his  most  notable  efibrt  was 

his  speech  before  the  Republican  Convention  of  1876,  in  which  he  rose  to  nominate 

I  James  G.  Blaine  for  the  Presidency.     We  have  already  spoken  of  this  splendid  effort 

in  our  notice  of  Blaine.     We  need  only  say  further  that  Ingersoll  shares  with  Conk- 

ij  ling  the  honor  of  delivering  the  two  most  effective  nominating  speeches  on  record.] 

jj  Massachusetts  may  be  satisfied  with  the  loyalty  of  Benjamin  H.  Bris- 

1}  tow  ;  so  am  I ;  but  if  any  man  nominated  by  this  convention  cannot 
)[  carry  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  I  am  not  satisfied  with  the  loyalty  of 
)i  that  State.  If  the  nominee  of  this  convention  cannot  carry  the  grand  old 
1  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  by  seventy-five  thousand  majority,  I 
M  would  advise  them  to  sell  out  Faneuil  Hall  as  a  Democratic  headquarters. 
i .  I  would  advise  them  to  take  from  Bunker  Hill  that  old  monument  of 

1  glory. 

I  317 


318  ROBERT  G.  INGERSOLL 

The  Republicans  of  the  United  States  demand  as  their  leader  in  the 
great  contest  of  18 76  a  man  of  intelligence,  a  man  of  integrity,  a  man  of 
well-known  and  approved  political  opinions.  They  demand  a  statesman  ; 
they  demand  a  reformer  after,  as  well  as  before,  th6  election.  They  demand 
a  politician  in  the  highest,  broadest,  and  best  sense — a  man  of  superb 
moral  courage.  They  demand  a  man  acquainted  with  public  affairs,  with 
the  wants  of  the  people,  with  not  only  the  requirements  of  the  hour,  but 
with  the  demands  of  the  future.  They  demand  a  man  broad  enough  to 
comprehend  the  relations  of  this  Government  to  the  other  nations  of  the 
earth.  They  demand  a  man  well  versed  in  the  powers,  duties  and  prero- 
gatives of  each  and  every  department  of  this  Government.  They  demand 
a  man  who  will  sacredly  preserve  the  financial  honor  of  the  United  States; 
one  who  knows  enough  to  know  that  the  national  debt  must  be  paid 
through  the  prosperity  of  this  people  ;  one  who  knows  enough  to  know 
that  all  the  money  must  be  made,  not  by  law,  but  by  labor ;  one  who 
knows  enough  to  know  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  the 
industry  to  make  the  money  and  the  honor  to  pay  it  over  just  as  fast  as 
they  make  it. 

The  Republicans  of  the  United  States  demand  a  man  who  knows 
that  prosperity  and  resumption,  when  they  come,  must  come  together; 
that  when  they  come,  they  will  come  hand  in  hand  through  the  golden 
harvest  fields  ;  hand  in  hand  by  the  whirling  spindles  and  turning  wheels  ; 
hand  in  hand  past  the  open  furnace  doors  ;  hand  in  hand  by  the  flaming 
forges  ;  hand  in  hand  by  the  chimneys  filled  with  eager  fire — greeted  and 
grasped  by  the  countless  sons  of  toil.  This  money  has  to  be  dug  out  of  the 
earth.     You  cannot  make  it  by  passing  resolutions  in  a  political  convention. 

The  Republicans  of  the  United  States  want  a  man  who  knows  that 
this  Government  should  protect  every  citizen  at  home  and  abroad  ;  who 
knows  that  any  Government  that  will  not  defend  its  defenders  and  protect 
its  protectors  is  a  disgrace  to  the  map  of  the  world.  They  demand  a  man 
who  believes  in  the  eternal  separation  and  divorcement  of  Church  and 
School.  They  demand  a  man  whose  political  reputation  is  spotless  as  a 
star  ;  but  they  do  not  demand  that  their  candidate  shall  have  a  certificate 
of  moral  character  signed  by  a  Confederate  Congress.  The  man  who  has 
in  full,  heaped  and  rounded  measure  all  these  splendid  qualifications  is 
the  present  grand  and  gallant  leader  of  the  Republican  party — ^James  Qfll 
Blaine.  "" 

Our  country,  crowned  with  the  vast  and  marvelous  achievements  of 
its  first  century,  asks  for  a  man  worthy  of  the  past  and  prophetic  of  her 
future ;  asks  for  a  man  who  has  the  audacity  of  genius ;  asks  for  a  man 
who  is  the  greatest  combination  of  heart,  conscience,  and  brain  beneath 


I 


ROBERT  G.  INGERSOLL  319 

her  flag.  Such  a  man  is  James  G.  Blaine.  For  the  Republican  host,  led 
by  this  intrepid  man,  there  can  be  no  defeat. 

This  is  a  grand  year  ;  a  year  filled  with  the  recollections  of  the  Revo- 
lution, filled  with  proud  and  tender  memories  of  the  past,  with  the  sacred 
legends  of  liberty  ;  a  year  in  which  the  sons  of  Freedom  will  drink  from 
the  fountains  of  enthusiam  ;  a  year  in  which  the  people  call  for  a  man 
who  has  preserved  in  Congress  what  our  soldiers  won  upon  the  field  ;  a 
year  in  which  we  call  for  the  man  who  has  torn  from  the  throat  of  treason 
the  tongue  of  slander  ;  for  the  man  who  has  snatched  the  mask  of  Demo- 
cracy from  the  hideous  face  of  Rebellion  ;  for  the  man  who,  like  an  intel- 
lectual athlete,  has  stood  in  the  arena  of  debate  and  challenged  all 
comers,  and  who,  up  to  the  present  moment,  is  a  total  stranger  to  defeat. 

lyike  an  armed  warrior,  like  a  plumed  knight,  James  G.  Blaine 
marched  down  the  halls  of  the  American  Congress  and  threw  his  shining 
lance  full  and  fair  against  the  brazen  foreheads  of  the  defamers  of  his 
country  and  the  maligners  of  his  honor.  For  the  Republicans  to  desert 
this  gallant  leader  now  is  as  though  an  army  should  desert  their  general 
upon  the  field  of  battle. 

James  G.  Blaine  is  now,  and  has  been  for  years,  the  bearer  of  the 
sacred  standard  of  the  Republican  party.  I  call  it  sacred,  because  no 
human  being  can  stand  beneath  its  folds  without  becoming  and  without 
remaining  free. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  in  the  name  of  the  great  Republic,  the 
only  Republic  that  ever  existed  upon  this  earth  ;  in  the  name  of  all  her 
defenders  and  of  all  her  supporters  ;  in  the  name  of  all  her  soldiers  living  ; 
in  the  name  of  all  her  soldiers  dead  upon  the  field  of  battle ;  and  in  the 
name  of  those  who  perished  in  the  skeleton  clutch  of  famine  at  Anderson- 
ville  and  lyibby,  whose  sufferings  he  so  vividly  remembers,  Illinois — 
Illinois  nominates  for  the  next  President  of  this  country  that  prince  of 
parliamentarians,  that  leader  of  leaders,  James  G.  Blaine. 

ORATION  AT  HIS  BROTHER^S  GRAVE 

[A  discourse  with  the  deep  feeling  and  pathos  of  this  is  one  that  would  hardly 
be  looked  for  from  a  man  with  the  reputation  of  a  contemner  of  religion.  It  shows 
that,  despite  his  ordinary  attitude,  Ingersoll  had  a  religion  of  his  own,  and  a  trust  in 
the  hereafter.] 


Friends,  I  am  going  to  do  that  which  the  dead  oft  promised  he  would 
Ij  do  for  me. 

Ij  h^^^  loved  and  loving  brother,  husband,  father,  friend  died,  where 
ni manhood's  morning  almost  touched  noon,  and  while  the  shadows  still 
■J^jwere  falling  toward  the  West. 


320'  ROBERT  G.  INGERSOLL 

He  had  not  passed  on  life's  highway  the  stone  that  marks  the  highest 
point,  but,  being  weary  for  a  moment,  he  lay  down  by  the  wayside,  and, 
using  his  burden  for  a  pillow,  fell  into  that  dreamless  sleep  that  kisses 
down  his  eyelids  still.  While  in  love  with  nfe  and  raptured  with  the 
world,  he  passed  to  silence  and  pathetic  dust. 

Yet,  after  all,  it  may  be  best,  just  in  the  happiest,  sunniest  hour  of 
all  the  voyage,  while  eager  winds  are  kissing  every  sail,  to  dash  against 
the  unseen  rock,  and  in  an  instant  hear  the  billows  roar  above  a  sunken 
ship.  For,  whether  in  mid  sea  or  among  the  breakers  of  the  farther 
shore,  a  wreck  at  last  must  mark  the  end  of  each  and  all.  And  every 
life,  no  matter  if  its  every  hour  is  rich  with  love,  and  every  moment 
jeweled  with  a  joy,  will,  at  its  close,  become  a  tragedy  as  sad  and  deep 
and  dark  as  can  be  woven  of  the  warp  and  woof  of  mystery  and  death. 

This  brave  and  tender  man  in  every  storm  of  life  was  oak  and  rock, 
but  in  the  sunshine  he  was  vine  and  flower.  He  was  the  friend  of  all 
heroic  souls.  He  climbed  the  heights  and  left  all  superstitions  far  below, 
while  on  his  forehead  fell  the  golden  dawning  of  the  grander  day. 

He  loved  the  beautiful,  and  was  with  color,  form  and  music  touched 
with  tears.  He  sided  with  the  weak,  the  poor,  and  wronged,  and  lovingly 
gave  alms.  With  loyal  heart  and  with  the  purest  hands,  he  faithfully 
discharged  all  public  trusts. 

He  was  a  worshipper  of  liberty,  a  friend  of  the  oppressed.  A  thou- 
sand times  I  have  heard  him  quote  these  words  :  ''  For  justice,  all  place 
a  temple,  and  all  season,  summer."  He  believed  that  happiness  was  the 
only  good,  reason  the  only  torch,  justice  the  only  worship,  humanity  the 
only  religion,  and  love  the  only  priest.  He  added  to  the  sum  of  human 
joy  ;  and  were  every  one  to  whom  he  did  some  loving  service  to  bring  a 
blossom  to  his  grave,  he  would  sleep  to-night  beneath  a  wilderness  of 
flowers. 

Life  is  a  narrow  vale  between  the  cold  and  barren  peaks  of  two  eter- 
nities. We  strive  in  vain  to  look  beyond  the  heights.  We  cry  aloud, 
and  the  only  answer  is  the  echo  of  our  wailing  cry.  From  the  voiceless 
lips  of  the  unreplying  dead  there  comes  no  word  ;  but  in  the  night  of 
death  hope  sees  a  star,  and  listening  love  can  hear  the  rustle  of  the  wing. 

He  who  sleeps  here,  when  dying,  mistaking  the  approach  of  death 
for  the  return  of  health,  whispered  with  his  latest  breath  :  **  I  am  bette 
now."  Let  us  believe,  in  spite  of  doubts  and  dogmas,  of  fears  and  tears, 
that  these  dear  words  are  true  of  all  the  countless  dead. 

And  now  to  you  who  have  been  chosen,  from  among  the  many 
^he  loved,  to  do  the  last  sad  office  for  the  dead,  we  give  his  sacred  dust. 


HENRY  ARMITT  BROWN  (J 8444 878) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 


AMONG  the  promising  orators  of  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  must  be  named  Henry  Armitt  Brown,  a  young  lawyer 
*--^  of  Philadelphia,  gifted  by  nature  with  rare  eloquence,  yet  cut 
down  by  fate  before  he  reached  the  zenith  of  his  powers.  His  reputa- 
tion, which  had  grown  widely  before  his  death,  was  gained  as  a  politi- 
cal orator  in  presidential  campaigns  and  in  the  service  of  municipal 
reform  in  Philadelphia.  His  early  decease  was  a  serious  loss  to  the 
latter  cause,  whicTi  has  moved  backward  decidedly  in  the  years  that 
have  since  followed,  though  it  can  hardly  be  hoped  that  oratory 
would  have  materially  shaken  the  retrograde  movement. 

MAN'S  PROGRESS  AND  PROBLEMS 

[Of  the  public  addresses  of  Mr.  Brown  perhaps  the  most  admirable,  as  the  most 
admired,  was  that  delivered  at  the  Valley  Forge  centennial.  The  extract  given  is 
full  of  suggestive  truth  as  to  the  life  of  man  and  the  conditions  surrounding  him.] 

The  century  that  has  gone  has  changed  the  face  of  nature  and 
wrought  a  revolution  in  the  habits  of  mankind.  We  stand  to-day  at  the 
dawn  of  an  extraordinary  age.  •  Freed  from  the  chains  of  ancient  thought 
and  superstition,  man  has  begun  to  win  most  extraordinary  victories  in 
the  domain  of  science.  One  by  one  he  has  dispelled  the  doubts  of  the 
ancient  world.  Nothing  is  too  difficult  for  his  hand  to  attempt;  no 
region  too  remote,  no  place  too  sacred,  for  his  daring  eye  to  penetrate.  He 
has  robbed  the  earth  of  her  secrets  and  sought  to  solve  the  mysteries  of 
the  heavens  !  He  has  secured  and  chained  to  his  service  the  elemental 
forces  of  nature  ;  he  has  made  the  fire  his  steed,  the  winds  his  ministers, 
the  seas  his  pathway,  the  lightning  his  messenger.  He  has  descended 
into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  walked  in  safety  on  the  bottom  of  the^ 
sea.  He  has  raised  his  head  above  the  clouds,  and  made  the  impalpable 
21  321 


822  HENRY  ARMITT  BROWN 

air  his  resting-place.  He  has  tried  to  analyze  the  stars,  count  the  constel- 
lations, and  weigh  the  sun.  He  has  advanced  with  such  astounding 
speed  that,  breathless,  we  have  reached  a  moment  when  it  seems  as  if 
distance  had  been  annihilated,  time  made  as  naught,  the  invisible  seen, 
the  inaudible  heard,  the  unspeakable  spoken,  the  intangible  felt,  the 
impossible  accomplished.  And  already  we  knock  at  the  door  of  a  new 
century  which  promises  to  be  infinitely  brighter  and  more  enlightened  and 
happier  than  this.  But  of  all  this  blaze  of  light  which  illuminates  the 
present  and  casts  its  reflection  into  the  distant  recesses  of  the  past,  there 
is  not  a  single  ray  that  shoots  into  the  future.  Not  one  step  have  we 
taken  toward  the  mystery  of  the  solution  of  life.  That  remains  to-day  as 
dark  and  unfathomable  as  it  was  ten  thousand  years  ago. 

We  know  that  we  are  more  fortunate  than  our  fathers.  We  believe 
that  our  children  shall  be  happier  than  we.  We  know  that  this  century 
is  more  enlightened  than  the  last.  We  believe  that  the  time  to  come  will 
be  better  and  more  glorious  than  this.  We  think,  we  believe,  we  hope, 
but  we  do  not  know.  Across  that  threshold  we  may  not  pass  ;  behind 
that  veil  we  may  not  penetrate.  Into  that  country  it  may  not  be  for  us  to 
go.  It  may  be  vouchsafed  to  us  to  behold  it,  wonderingly,  from  afar, 
but  never  to  enter  it.  It  matters  not.  The  age  in  which  we  live  is  but  a 
link  in  the  endless  and  eternal  chain.  Our  lands  are  like  the  sands  upon 
the  shore  ;  our  voices  like  the  breath  of  this  summer  breeze  that  stirs  the 
leaf  for  a  moment  and  is  forgotten.  Whence  we  have  come  and  whither 
we  shall  go,  not  one  of  us  can  tell.  And  the  last  survivor  of  this  mighty 
multitude  shall  stay  but  a  little  while. 

But  in  the  impenetrable  To  Be,  the  endless  generations  are  advancing 
to  take  our  places  as  we  fall.     For  them,  as  for  us,  shall  the  earth  roll  on 
and  the  seasons  come  and  go,  the  snowflakes  fall,  the  flowers  bloom,  and 
the  harvests  be  gathered  in.     For  them  as  for  us  shall  the  sun,  like  the 
life  of  man,  rise  out  of  darkness  in  the  morning  and  sink  into  darkness  in 
the  night.     For  them  as  for  us  shall  the  years  march  by  in  the  sublime 
procession  of  the  ages.     And  here,  in  this  place  of  sacrifice,  in  this  vale 
of  humiliation,  in  this  valley  of  the  shadow  of  that  death  out  of  which  the] 
life  of  America  arose,  regenerate  and  free,  let  us  believe  with  an  abiding ' 
faith  that,  to  them,  union  will  seem  as  dear,  and  liberty  as  sweet,  and-, 
progress  as  glorious,  as  they  were  to  our  fathers,  and  are  to  you  and  me^ 
and  that  the  institutions  that  have  made  us  happy,  preserved  by  the  virtue 
of  our  children,  shall  bless  the  remotest  generations  of  the  time  to  come. 
And  unto  Him  who  holds  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand  the  fate  of  nations, 
and  yet  marks  the  sparrow's  fall,  let  us  lift  up  our  hearts  this  day,  and 
into  his  eternal  care  commend  ourselves,  our  children  and  our  country. 


HENRY  WATTERSON  (1840 ) 

THE  POPULAR  ORATOR  AND  EDITOR  OF  KENTUCKY 


AMONG  the  phrases  widely  current  in  the  American  political 
world  is  that  of  '^  Tariff  for  revenue  only,'^  a  Democratic 
'  '  slogan  which  has  formed  the  war-cry  in  more  than  one  hard- 
fought  battle  for  the  Presidency,  and  which  is  credited  to  the  fertile 
brain  of  Henry  Watterson,  one  of  the  ablest  among  Western  editors. 
As  a  counterpoise  against  tariff  for  protection,  this  phrase  has  had  a 
telling  effect  in  political  and  economical  argument. .  Watterson  began 
hir  career  as  a  newspaper  writer  in  Washington,  returning  to  his 
paternal  home  in  Tennessee  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil- War,  and 
serving  in  the  Confederate  army.  Since  1868  he  has  been  known  as 
the  able  and  trenchant  editor  of  the  Cowrie?-  Journal,  of  Louisville. 
An  old-line  Democrat  of  the  Jefferson  and  Jackson  school,  he  has 
steadily  worked  for  this  wing  of  his  party.  Watterson  is  eloquent 
and  popular  as  an  orator,  both  in  the  political  and  lecture  field,  and 
in  the  lighter  vein  of  the  "  after-dinner"  speech. 

A  VISION  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

[One  of  Watterson 's  choicest  efforts  in  oratory  is  his  oration  delivered  October 
21,  1892,  at  the  dedication  of  the  Columbian  World's  Fair  in  Chicago.  From  this  fine 
address  we  select  one  of  the  most  eloquent  passages.] 

We  look  before  and  after,  and  we  see,  through  the  half- drawn  folds 
of  time,  as  though  through  the  solemn  archways  of  some  grand  cathedral, 
the  long  procession  pass,  as  silent  and  as  real  as  a  dream.  The  caravals, 
tossing  upon  Atlantic  billows,  have  their  sails  refilled  from  the  East,  and 
bear  away  to  the  West ;  the  land  is  reached,  and  fulfilled  is  the  vision 
whose  actualities  are  to  be  gathered  by  other  hands  than  his  who  planned 
the  voyage  and  steered  the  bark  of  discovery  ;  the  long-sought  golden  day 
has  come  to  Spain  at  last,  and  Castilian  Conquests  tread  upon  one  another 

323 


824  HENRY  WATTERSON 

fast  enough  to  pile  up  perpetual  power  and  riches.  But  even  as  simple 
justice  was  denied  Columbus,  was  lasting  tenure  denied  the  Spaniard. 

We  look  again,  and  we  see  in  the  far  Northeast  the  Old  World  strug- 
gle between  the  French  and  English  transferred  to  the  New,  ending  in  the 
tragedy  upon  the  heights  above  Quebec  ;  we  see  the  sturdy  Puritans  in 
bell-crowned  hats  and  sable  garments  assail  in  unequal  battle  the  savage 
and  the  elements,  overcoming  both  to  rise  against  a  mightier  foe  ;  we  see 
the  gay  but  dauntless  Cavaliers,  to  the  southward,  join  hands  with  the 
Roundheads  in  holy  rebellion.  And  lo,  down  from  the  green- walled  hills 
of  New  England,  out  of  the  swamps  of  the  Carolinas,  come  faintly  to  the 
ear,  like  far-away  forest  leaves  stirred  to  music  by  autumn  winds,  the 
drum-taps  of  the  Revolution ;  the  tramp  of  the  minute-men,  Israel  Putnam 
riding  before  ;  the  hoof-beats  of  Sumter's  horse  galloping  to  the  front  ; 
the  thunder  of  Stark's  guns  in  spirit  battle ;  the  gleam  of  Marion's  watch- 
fires  in  ghostly  bivouac  ;  and  there,  there  in  serried,  saint-like  ranks  on 
Fame's  eternal  camping-ground  stand, 

"  The  old  Continentals 
In  their  ragged  regimentals, 
Yielding  not," 

as,  amid  the  singing  of  angels  in  Heaven,  the  scene  is  shut  out  from  our 
mortal  vision  by  proud  and  happy  tears. 

We  see  the  rise  of  the  young  republic,  and  the  gentlemen  in  knee 
breeches  and  powdered  wigs  who  made  the  Constitution .  We  see  the  little 
nation  menaced  from  without.  We  see  the  riflemen  in  hunting  shirt  and 
buckskin  swarm  from  the  cabin  in  the  wilderness  to  the  rescue  of  country 
and  home  ;  and  our  hearts  swell  to  see  the  second  and  final  decree  of  inde- 
pendence won  by  the  prowess  and  valor  of  American  arms  upon  the  land 
and  sea. 

And  then,  and  then, — since  there  is  no  life  of  nations  or  of  men  with- 
out its  shadow  or  its  sorrow, — there  comes  a  day  when  the  spirits  of  the 
fathers  no  longer  walk  upon  the  battlements  of  freedom  ;  and  all  is  dark  ; 
and  all  seems  lost  save  liberty  and  honor,  and,  praise  God  !  our  blessed 
Union.  With  these  surviving,  who  shall  marvel  at  what  we  see  to-day — 
this  land  filled  with  the  treasures  of  earth  ;  this  city,  snatched  from  the 
ashes  to  rise  in  splendor  and  renown,  passing  the  mind  of  man  to  pre- 
conceive ?  Truly,  out  of  trial  comes  the  strength  of  man  ;  out  of  disaster 
comes  the  glory  of  the  state. 

THE  PURITAN  AND  THE  CAVALIER 
To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  am  afraid  that  I  have  gained  access  here  on  fal 
pretences  ;    for  I  am  no  Cavalier  at  all ;   just  plain  Scotch-Irish  ;    on*^ 


I 


HENRY  WATTERSON  325 

those  Scotch- Irish  Southerners  who  ate  no  fire  in  the  green  leaf  and  has 
eaten  no  dirt  in  the  brown,  and  who,  accepting,  for  the  moment,  the  terms 
Puritan  and  Cavalier  in  the  sense  an  effete  sectionalism  once  sought  to 
ascribe  them — descriptive  labels  at  once  classifying  and  separating  North 
and  South ;  verbal  redoubts  along  that  mythical  line  called  Mason  and 
Dixon,  over  which  there  were  supposed  by  the  extremists  of  other  days  to 
be  no  bridges — I  am  much  disposed  to  say,  *  'A  plague  o'  both  your  houses!' ' 

Each  was  good  enough  and  bad  enough  in  its  way,  whilst  they  lasted  ; 
each  in  its  turn  filled  the  English-speaking  world  with  mourning ;  and 
each,  if  either  could  have  resisted  the  infection  of  the  soil  and  climate  they 
found  here,  would  be  to-day  striving  at  the  sword's  point  to  square  life  by 
the  iron  rule  of  Theocracy,  or  to  round  it  by  the  dizzy  whirl  of  a  petti- 
coat !  It  is  very  pretty  to  read  about  the  Maypole  of  Virginia  and  very 
edifying  and  inspiring  to  celebrate  the  deeds  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  But 
there  is  not  Cavalier  blood  enough  left  in  the  Old  Dominion  to  produce  a 
single  crop  of  first  families,  whilst  out  in  Nebraska  and  Iowa  they  claim 
that  they  have  so  stripped  New  England  of  her  Puritan  stock  as  to  spare 
her  hardly  enough  for  farm  hands.  This  I  do  know  from  personal  experi- 
ence, that  it  is  impossible  for  the  stranger-guest,  sitting  beneath  a  bower 
of  roses  in  the  Palmetto  Club  at  Charleston,  or  by  a  mimic  log-heap  in 
the  Algonquin  Club  at  Boston,  to  tell  the  assembled  company  apart — 
particularly  after  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening!  Why,  in  that  great,  final 
struggle  between  the  Puritans  and  the  Cavaliers — which  we  still  here  some- 
times casually  mentioned,  although  it  ended  nearly  thirty  years  ago — there 
liad  been  such  a  mixing  up  of  Puritan  babies  during  the  two  or  three 
generations  preceding  it  that  the  surviving  grandmothers  of  the  combatants 
could  not,  except  for  their  uniforms,  have  picked  out  their  own  on  any 
field  of  battle  ! 

Turning  to  the  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography,  I  find  that  Web- 
ster had  all  the  vices  that  are  supposed  to  have  signalized  the  Cavalier, 
and  Calhoun  all  the  virtues  that  are  claimed  for  the  Puritan.  During 
twenty  years  three  statesmen  of  Puritan  origin  were  the  chosen  party 
leaders  of  Cavalier  Mississippi :  Robert  J,  Walker,  born  and  reared  in 
Pennsylvania  ;  John  A.  Quitman,  born  and  reared  in  the  good  old  State 
of  Maine.  That  sturdy  Puritan,  Slidell,  never  saw  Louisiana  until  he 
was  old  enough  to  vote  and  to  fight ;  native  here — an  alumnus  of  Columbia 
College — but  sprung  from  New  England  ancestors.  Albert  Sydney  John- 
ston, the  most  resplendent  of  modern  Cavaliers — from  tip  to  toe  a  type  of 
the  species  ;  the  very  rose  and  expectancy  of  the  young  Confederacy — did 
not  have  a  drop  of  Southern  blood  in  his  veins  ;  Yankee  on  both  sides  of 
the  house,  though  born  in  Kentucky  a  little  while  after  his  father  and 


326  HENRY  WATTERSON 

mother  arrived  there  from  Connecticut.  The  Ambassador  who  serves  our 
Government  near  the  French  Republic  was  a  gallant  Confederate  soldier 
and  is  a  representative  Southern  statesman  ;  but  he  owns  the  estate  in 
Massachusetts  where  his  father  was  born,  and  where  his  father's  fathers 
lived  through  many  generations. 

And  the  Cavaliers,  who  missed  their  stirrups,  somehow,  and  got  into 
Yankee  saddles?  The  woods  were  full  of  them.  If  Custer  was  not  a 
Cavalier,  Rupert  was  a  Puritan.  And  Sherwood  and  Wadsworth  and 
Kearny,  and  McPherson  and  their  dashing  companions  and  followers ! 
The  one  typical  soldier  of  the  war — mark  you  ! — was  a  Southern,  not  a 
Northern,  soldier;  Stonewall  Jackson,  of  the  Virginia  line.  And,  if  we 
should  care  to  pursue  the  subject  farther  back,  what  about  Ethan  Allen 
and  John  Stark  and  Mad  Anthony  Wayne — Cavaliers  each  and  every  one? 
Indeed,  from  Israel  Putnam  to  "Buffalo  Bill,"  it  seems  to  me  the  Puritans 
have  had  rather  the  best  of  it  in  turning  out  Cavaliers.  So  the  least  said 
about  the  Puritan  and  the  Cavalier — except  as  blessed  memories  or  horrid 
examples — the  better  for  historic  accuracy. 

If  you  wish  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  facts,  I  don't  mind  telling  you — 
in  confidence — that  it  was  we  Scotch-Irish  who  vanquished  both  of  you ; 
some  of  us  in  peace,  others  of  us  in  war — supplying  the  missing  link  of 
adaptability,  the  needed  ingredient  of  common  sense,  the  conservative 
principle  of  creed  and  action ,  to  which  this  generation  of  Americans  owes 
its  intellectual  and  moral  emancipation  from  frivolity  and  pharisaism,  its 
rescue  from  the  Scarlet  Woman  and  the  mailed  hand,  and  its  crystalliza- 
tion into  a  national  character  and  polity,  ruling  by  force  of  brains  and  not 
by  force  of  arms. 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS,  JR.  (J 835  ) 

THE  POLISHED  EXPONENT  OF  HIGH  IDEALS 


mHE  Adams  family,  as  was  said  in  a  former  sketch,  has  been 
notable  in  the  history  of  oratory  and  patriotism.  It  has  two 
Presidents  to  its  credit,  John  Adams,  and  John  Quincy 
Adams,  father  and  son,  both  famous  statesmen  and  ardent  patriots. 
Later  in  the  line  we  meet  with  Charles  Francis  Adams,  the  able  states- 
man and  diplomatist,  and  his  son,  of  the  same  name  ;  the  latter  a  cav- 
alry soldier  in  the  war,  later  on  a  railroad  commissioner  and  arbitrator, 
and  always  a  true  scion  of  his  patriotic  ancestry.  He  was  elected 
president  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  in  1884,  and  became  presiding 
officer  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  in  1895.  While  all  the 
distinguished  men  of  the  family  have  won  reputation  as  orators,  the 
one  now  under  consideration  is  certainly  not  the  least  eloquent  among 
them.  In  1883,  in  his  address  entitled,  ''A  College  Fetich,"  he  sharply 
criticised  the  American  system  of  higher  education,  stirring  up  the 
adherents  of  the  system  to  an  acrimonious  discussion  of  his  strongly 
expressed  views. 

THE  VETERANS  OF  GETTYSBURG 
[On  the  4th  of  July,  1869,  the  sixth  anniversary  of  the  greatest  battle  of  the 
Civil  War,  Mr.  Adams  delivered  an  oration  at  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  on  this  subject, 
which  is  looked  upon  as  his  masterpiece,  though  he  has  other  eloquent  speeches  to 
his  credit.  We  give  the  patriotic  peroration  of  this  admirable  address,  following  a 
most  animated  description  of  the  hasty  march  to  Gettysburg.] 

It  is  said  that  at  the  crisis  of  Solferino,  Marshal  McMahon  appeared 
with  his  corps  upon  the  field  of  battle,  his  men  having  run  for  seven  miles. 
We  need  not  go  abroad  for  examples  of  endurance  and  soldierly  bearing. 
The  achievement  of  Sedgwick  and  the  brave  Sixth  Corps,  as  they  marched 
upon  the  field  of  Gettysburg  on  that  second  day  of  July,  far  excels  the 
vaunted  efforts  of  the  French  Zouaves. 

327 


328  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS,  JR. 

Twenty-four  hours  later  we  stood  on  that  same  ground.  Many  dear 
friends  had  yielded  up  their  young  lives  during  the  hours  which  had  elapsed, 
but,  though  twenty  thousand  fellow-creatures  were  wounded  or  dead 
around  us,  though  the  flood-gates  of  heaven  seemed  opened,  and  the  tor- 
rents fell  upon  the  quick  and  the  dead,  yet  the  elements  seemed  electrified 
with  a  certain  magic  influence  of  victory,  and  as  the  great  army  sank  down 
over- wearied  in  its  tracks,  it  felt  that  the  crisis  and  danger  were  passed — 
that  Gettysburg  was  immortal. 

May  I  not,  then,  well  express  the  hope  that  never  again  may  we  or 
ours  be  called  upon  so  to  celebrate  this  anniversary  ?  And  yet,  now  that 
the  passionate  hopes  and  fears  of  those  days  are  all  over,  now  that  the 
grief  which  can  never  be  forgotten  is  softened  and  modified  by  the  sooth- 
ing hand  of  time,  now  that  the  distracted  doubts  and  untold  anxieties  are 
buried  and  almost  forgotten,  we  love  to  remember  the  gathering  of  the 
hosts,  to  hear  again  in  memory  the  shock  of  battle,  and  to  wonder  at  the 
magnificence  of  the  drama.  The  passion  and  the  excitement  are  gone, 
and  we  can  look  at  the  work  we  have  done  and  pronounce  upon  it.  I  do 
not  fear  the  sober  second  judgment.  Our  work  was  a  great  work, — it  was 
well  done,  and  it  was  done  thoroughly.  Some  one  has  said,  "  Happy  is 
the  people  which  has  no  history. ' '  Not  so  !  As  it  is  better  to  have  loved 
and  lost  than  never  to  have  loved  at  all,  so  it  is  better  to  have  lived 
greatly,  even  though  we  have  suffered  greatly,  than  to  have  passed  a  long 
life  of  inglorious  ease.  Our  generation — yes,  we  ourselves  have  been  a 
part  of  great  things.  We  have  suffered  greatly  and  greatly  rejoiced  ;  we 
have  drunk  deep  of  the  cup  of  joy  and  of  sorrow  ;  we  have  tasted  the 
agony  of  defeat,  and  we  have  supped  full  with  the  pleasures  of  victory. 
We  have  proved  ourselves  equal  to  great  deeds,  and  have  learned  what 
qualities  were  in  us,  which  in  more  peaceful  times  we  ourselves  did  not 
respect. 

And,  indeed,  I  would  here  in  closing  fain  address  a  few  words  to  such 
of  you,  if  any  such  are  here,  who  like  myself  have  been  soldiers  during 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  We  should  never  more  be  partisans.  We 
have  been  a  part  of  great  events  in  the  service  of  the  common  country, 
we  have  worn  her  uniform,  we  have  received  her  pay  and  devoted  ourselves 
to  the  death,  if  need  be,  in  her  service.  When  we  were  blackened  by  the 
smoke  of  Antietam,  we  did  not  ask  or  care  whether  those  who  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  beside  us,  whether  he  who  led  us,  whether  those  who 
sustained  us,  were  Democrats  or  Republicans,  Conservatives  or  Radicals; 
we  asked  only  that  they  might  prove  as  true  as  was  the  steel  we  grasped, 
and  as  brave  as  we  ourselves  would  fain  have  been.  When  we  stood  like 
a  wall  of  stone  vomiting  fire  from  the  heights  of  Gettysburg, — nailed  to 


I 


1 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS,  JR.  329 

our  position  through  three  long  days  of  mortal  hell, — did  we  ask  each 
other  whether  that  brave  ofl&cer  who  fell  while  gallantly  leading  the 
counter-charge  ;  whether  that  cool  gunner  steadily  serving  his  piece  before 
us  amid  the  storm  of  shot  and  shell ;  whether  the  poor  wounded,  mangled, 
gasping  comrades,  crushed  and  torn,  and  dying  in  agony  around  us,  had 
voted  for  Lincoln  or  Douglas,  for  Breckenridge  or  Bell  ?  We  then  were 
full  of  other  thoughts.  We  prized  men  for  what  they,  were  worth  to  the 
common  country  of  us  all,  and  recked  not  of  empty  words.  Was  the 
man  true,  was  he  brave,  was  he  earnest,  was  all  we  thought  of  then  ; — 
not,  did  he  vote  or  think  with  us,  or  label  himself  with  our  party  name? 
This  lesson  let  us  try  to  remember.  We  cannot  give  to  party  all  that  we 
once  offered  to  country,  but  our  duty  is  not  yet  done.  We  are  no  longer, 
what  we  have  been,  the  young  guard  of  the  Republic  ;  we  have  earned 
an  exemption  from  the  dangers  of  the  field  and  camp,  and  the  old  musket 
or  the  crossed  sabres  hang  harmless  over  our  winter  fires,  never  more  to 
be  grasped  in  these  hands  henceforth  devoted  to  more  peaceful  labors ; 
but  the  duties  of  the  citizen,  and  the  citizen  who  has  received  his  baptism 
in  fire,  are  still  incumbent  upon  us.  Though  young  in  years,  we  should 
remember  that  henceforth,  as  long  as  we  live  in  the  land,  we  are  the 
ancients,  the  veterans  of  the  Republic.  As  such,  it  is  for  us  to  protect  in 
peace  what  we  preserved  in  war  ;  it  is  for  us  to  look  at  all  things  with  a 
view  to  the  common  country  and  not  to  the  exigencies  of  party  politics  ; 
it  is  for  us  ever  to  bear  in  mind  the  higher  allegiance  we  have  sworn,  and 
to  remember  that  he  who  has  once  been  a  soldier  of  the  motherland 
degrades  himself  forever  when  he  becomes  the  slave  of  faction.  Then,  at 
last,  if  through  life  we  ever  bear  these  lessons  freshly  in  mind,  will  it  be 
well  for  us,  will  it  be  well  for  our  country,  will  it  be  well  for  those  whose 
names  we  bear,  that  our  bones  also  do  not  molder  with  those  of  our  brave 
comrades  beneath  the  sods  of  Gettysburg,  or  that  our  graves  do  not  look 
down  on  the  swift-flowing  Mississippi  from  the  historic  heights  of  Vicks- 
burg. 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  (1837 ) 

THE  ORACLE  OF  DEMOCRACY 


mHE  career  of  Grover  Cleveland  has  been  a  remarkable  one.  All 
previous  American  Presidents  had  been  chosen  on  the  basis 
either  of  military  service  or  of  reputation  as  orators  and  states- 
men. Cleveland  was  known  neither  as  general  nor  orator,  and  it 
would  appear  to  have  been  chiefly  his  record  for  inflexible  integrity  in 
office  that  raised  him  rapidly  through  the  offices  of  District  Attorney, 
Sherifl*,  Mayor  of  Buffalo  and  Governor  of  New  York,  to  that  of 
President  of  the  United  States.  Such  reputation  as  he  possesses  as  an 
orator  has  been  made  principally  since  the  expiration  of  his  two  terms 
in  the  Executive  office,  in  his  earnest  upholding  of  the  basic  princi- 
ples of  the  Democratic  party,  and  in  words  of  calm  wisdom  and  judi- 
cious advice  on  other  subjects  of  interest. 


I 


MANUAL  TRAINING  FOR  THE  COLORED  RACE 

[As  an  example  of  Bx-President  Cleveland's  addresses  on  public  occasions,  we  w 
offer  the  following  selection  from  his  remarks  of  December  ii,  1902,  at  the  opening 
in  Philadelphia  of  the  Berean  Manual  Training  and  Industrial  School,  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  an  industrial  education  to  people  of  the  colored  race.  ] 


It  has  often  occurred  to  me  that  ever  since  we  have  become  a  natio: 
the  American  people  have  almost  constantly  been  confronted  with  lar 
problems,  more  or  less  perplexing,  and  directly  affecting   the  political 
industrial  and  social  phases  of  our  national  welfare.     This  experience,  in 
so  far  as  it  has  accustomed  us  to  difficulties,  has  made  us  a  strong  and 
strenuous  people.     I  think  it  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  our  succ 
in  overcoming  these  difficulties  has  engrafted  upon  the  American  char 
acter  such  confidence  in  our  ability  to  extricate  ourselves  from  embarrass 
ments  as  amounts  to  actual  national  vanity.     We  seem  to  have  a  con-j 
tented  notion  that,  whatever  dangers  press  upon  us,  and  whatever  obstacl 
830 


i 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  331 

are  to  be  surmounted ,  we  '  *  are  able  because  we  seem  to  be  able, "  and  tliat-, 
because  we  have  thus  far  escaped  threatening  perils,  a  happy-go-lucky- 
reliance  on  continued  'good  fortune  will  avail  us  to  the  end  of  the  chap- 
ter. I  plead  guilty  as  the  chief  among  sinners  in  the  vanity  of  my  Ameri- 
canship.  I  have  a  suspicion,  however,  that  our  serene  self-confidence  has 
sometimes  not  only  made  us  very  brave  and  daring,  but  has  stood  in  the 
way  of  an  early  and  provident  treatment  of  national  problems,  which, 
having  been  allowed  to  grow  and  harden ,  have  invited  increased  pain  and 
difficulty  in  their  rectification.  I  am,  therefore,  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  this  occasion,  because  it  has  to  do  with  certain  conditions 
which,  I  believe,  in  their  present  stage,  should  be  dealt  with  speedily  and 
effectively 

It  is  foolish  for  us  to  blind  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  more  should  be 
done  to  improve  the  condition  of  our  negro  population  ;  and  it  should  be 
entirely  plain  to  all  of  us  that  the  sooner  this  is  undertaken,  the  sooner 
will  a  serious  duty  be  discharged,  and  the  more  surely  will  we  guard  our- 
selves against  future  trouble  and  danger. 

We  cannot  forget,  however,  that  we  have  to  deal  with  those  whose 
deficiencies  do  not  result  entirely  from  their  lack  of  education,  as  that 
term  is  commonly  used.  The  circumstances  of  their  case  are  peculiar  and 
exceptional .  Generations  of  dependence  and  enforced  monotonous  daily 
toil,  without  wages  or  other  incentive  to  willing  labor,  and  without  the 
chance  of  instructive  or  constructive  work,  tainted  in  days  past  the  very 
blood  of  their  ancestors ;  and  from  them  the  present  generation  has 
inherited,  not  only  unfitness  for  such  diversified  work  as  best  suits  the 
needs  of  self-respecting  American  citizenship,  but  also  listless  disinclina- 
tion to  attempt  such  work 

Unquestionably  all  this  should  be  corrected — and  corrected  speedily. 
But  how  ?  No  one  who  has  given  the  subject  deliberate  thought  can  doubt 
that,  if  we  are  to  be  just  and  fair  towards  our  colored  fellow-citizens,  and  if 
they  are  to  be  more  completely  made  self-respecting,  useful  and  safe  mem- 
bers of  the  body  politic,  they  must  be  taught  to  do  something  more  than 
to  hew  wood  and  draw  water.  The  way  must  be  opened  for  them  to 
engage  in  something  better  than  menial  service,  and  their  interest  must 
be  aroused  to  the  rewards  of  intelligent  occupation  and  careful  thrift. 

I  believe  that  the  exigency  can  only  be  adequately  met  through  the 
instrumentality  of  well  equipped  manual  training  and  industrial  schools, 
conducted  either  independently  or  in  connection  with  ordinary  educa- 
tional institutions.  I  place  so  much  reliance  on  this  agency  for  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  negro  citizenship  that  I  am  inclined  to  estimate  it 
above  all  others  in  usefulness. 


BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON  (J 858 

THE  EVANGEL  OF  THE  NEGRO  RACE 


TATJE  have  before  us  to-day  a  significant  example  of  an  American 
11 1  nobleman,  in  a  man  of  black  skin,  born  to  slavery  and  degra- 
dation,  who  has  raised  himself,  by  force  of  character,  to  be  an 
honored  citizen  and  the  admired  of  all  generous-hearted  people  every- 
where. Booker  T.  Washington,  whose  very  name  is  borrowed,  is  in 
the  most  absolute  sense  a  self-made  man.  No  one  could  have  been 
more  destitute  of  advantages  or  more  completely  have  made  his  own 
way.  Fairly  forcing  himself  into  Hampton  Institute,  with  nothing  to 
help  him  but  eagerness  to  learn  and  determination  to  succeed,  he  left 
it  a  man  of  education,  and  with  the  warm  friendship  of  the  whole 
faculty.  Chosen  to  conduct  a  normal  school  for  colored  people  at 
Tuskegee,  Alabama,  he  found  himself  obliged  to  begin  absolutely  on 
the  ground  floor,  without  land,  buildings  or  apparatus,  and  without 
money  to  obtain  them  with.  In  the  short  period  of  twenty  years  he  had 
obtained  buildings  and  land  worth  over  $300,000,  with  an  endow- 
ment fund  in  additionoff  215,000;  his  pupils  had  increased  from  thirty 
to  eleven  hundred,  and  the  graduates  of  the  institution,  with  an  excel- 
lent literary  and  industrial  education,  were  spread  widely  over  the 
South.  Such  are  the  results  which  a  man  can  attain  with  character, 
energy  and  ability  to  back  him,  and  sustained  by  the  force  of  a  gre 
humanitarian  idea. 


CAST  DOWN  YOUR  BUCKET  WHERE  YOU  ARE 


I 


[Booker  T.  Washington  is  a  natural  orator.  It  is  largely  to  the  effect  of  his  ora- 
tory that  he  owes  his  success.  His  method  is  of  the  simplest ;  there  is  nothing  ornate 
in  his  language,  his  words  being  those  of  every  day  speech  ;  rhetoric  and  flights  of 
fancy  are  not  thought  of;  a  child  could  understand  him,  and  yet  his  influence  over 
grown  men  and  women  has  been  great.  Indeed,  his  address  at  the  opening  of  the 
Atlanta  Exposition  of  1895,  was  one  of  the  most  effective  bits  of  natural  oratory  of 
332 


I 


BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON  333 

the  age  ;  less,  however,  from  the  eloquence  of  the  speaker  than  from  what  he  had  to 
say,  his  pointing  out  how  the  whites  and  blacks  could  live  together  in  harmony  in  the 
South.  The  Boston  Transcript  said  of  this  speech:  "It  seems  to  have  dwarfed  all 
the  other  proceedings  and  the  Exposition  itself.  The  sensation  that  it  has  caused  in 
the  press  has  never  been  equalled."     We  give  the  main  portions  of  this  address.] 

Mr.  President  and  Genti^emen  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
AND  Citizens  :  One-third  of  the  population  of  the  South  is  of  the  Negro 
race.  No  enterprise  seeking  the  material,  civil,  or  moral  welfare  of  this 
section  can  disregard  this  element  of  our  population  and  reach  the  highest 
success.  I  but  convey  to  you,  Mr.  President  and  Directors,  the  sentiment 
of  the  masses  of  my  race  when  I  say  that  in  no  way  have  the  value  and 
manhood  of  the  American  Negro  been  more  fittingly  and  generously  recog- 
nized than  by  the  managers  of  this  magnificent  Exposition  at  every  stage 
of  its  progress.  It  is  a  recognition  that  will  do  more  to  cement  the  friend- 
ship of  the  two  races  than  any  occurrence  since  the  dawn  of  our  freedom. 

Not  only  this,  but  the  opportunity  here  afforded  will  awaken  among 
us  a  new  era  of  industrial  progress.  Ignorant  and  inexperienced,  it  is  not 
strange  that  in  the  first  years  of  our  new  life  we  began  at  the  top  instead 
of  at  the  bottom ;  that  a  seat  in  Congress  or  the  State  Legislature  was 
more  sought  than  real  estate  or  industrial  skill ;  that  the  political  conven- 
tion or  stump  speaking  had  more  attractions  than  starting  a  dairy  farm 
or  truck  garden. 

A  ship  lost  at  sea  for  many  days  suddenly  sighted  a  friendly  vessel. 
From  the  mast  of  the  unfortunate  vessel  was  seen  a  signal,  "Water, 
water  ;  we  die  of  thirst !  ' '  The  answer  from  the  friendly  vessel  at  once 
came  back,  "  Cast  down  your  bucket  where  you  are."  A  second  time  the 
signal,  "  Water,  water  ;  send  us  water !  "  ran  up  from  the  distressed  ves- 
sel, and  was  answered,  "  Cast  down  your  bucket  where  you  are."  And  a 
third  and  fourth  signal  for  water  was  answered,  "  Cast  down  your  bucket 
where  you  are. ' '  The  captain  of  the  distressed  vessel,  at  last  heeding  the 
injunction,  cast  down  his  bucket,  and  it  came  up  full  of  fresh,  sparkling 
water  from  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon  River.  To  those  of  my  race  who 
depend  on  bettering  their  condition  in  a  foreign  land,  or  who  underestimate 
the  importance  of  cultivating  friendly  relations  with  the  Southern  white 
man,  who  is  their  next-door  neighbor,  I  will  say:  ''Cast  down  your 
bucket  where  you  are," — cast  it  down  in  making  friends  in  every  manly 
way  of  the  people  of  all  races  by  whom  we  are  surrounded. 

Cast  it  down  in  agriculture,  in  mechanics,  in  commerce,  in  domestic 
service,  and  in  the  professions.  And  in  this  connection,  it  is  well  to  bear 
in  mind  that  whatever  other  sins  the  South  may  be  called  to  bear,  when  it 
comes  to  business,  pure  and  simple,  it  is  in  the  South  that  the  Negro  is 


334  BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON 

given  a  man's  chance  in  the  commercial  world,  and  in  nothing  is  this 
Exposition  more  eloquent  than  in  emphasizing  this  chance.  Our  greatest 
danger  is  that  in  the  great  leap  from  slavery  to  freedom  we  may  overlook 
the  fact  that  the  masses  of  us  are  to  live  by  the  productions  of  our  hands, 
and  fail  to  keep  in  mind  that  we  shall  prosper  in  proportion  as  we  learn  to 
dignify  and  glorify  common  labor,  and  put  brains  and  skill  into  the  com- 
mon occupations  of  life  ;  shall  prosper  in  proportion  as  we  learn  to  draw 
the  line  between  the  superficial  and  the  substantial,  the  ornamental  gew- 
gaws of  life  and  the  useful.  No  race  can  prosper  till  it  learns  that  there 
is  as  much  dignity  in  tilling  a  field  as  in  writing  a  poem.  It  is  at  the 
bottom  of  life  we  must  begin,  and  not  at  the  top.  Nor  should  we  permit 
our  grievances  to  overshadow  our  opportunities.  To  those  of  the  white 
race  who  look  to  the  incoming  of  those  of  foreign  birth  and  strange  tongue 
and  habits  for  the  prosperity  of  the  South,  were  I  permitted  I  would  repeat 
what  I  say  to  my  own  race,  ''  Cast  down  your  bucket  where  you  are." 
Cast  it  down  among  the  eight  millions  of  negroes  whose  habits  you  know, 
whose  fidelity  and  love  you  have  tested  in  days  when  to  have  proved 
treacherous  meant  the  ruin  of  your  firesides.  Cast  down  your  bucket 
among  those  people  who  have,  without  strikes  and  labor  wars,  tilled  your 
fields,  cleared  your  forests,  builded  your  railroads  and  cities,  and  brought 
forth  treasures  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  helped  make  possible 
this  magnificent  representation  of  the  progress  of  the  South.  Casting 
down  your  bucket  among  my  people,  helping  and  encouraging  them  as 
you  are  doing  on  these  grounds,  and  to  education  of  head,  hand,  and 
heart,  you  will  find  that  they  will  buy  your  surplus  land,  make  blossom 
the  waste  places  in  your  fields,  and  run  your  factories. 

While  doing  this,  you  can  be  sure  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  that 
you  and  your  families  will  be  surrounded  by  the  most  patient,  faithful, 
law-abiding  and  unresentful  people  that  the  world  has  seen.  As  we  have 
proved  our  loyalty  to  you  in  the  past,  in  nursing  your  children,  watching 
by  the  sick-bed  of  your  mothers  and  fathers,  and  often  following  thei 
with  tear-dimmed  eyes  to  their  graves,  so  in  the  future,  in  our  humbU 
way,  we  shall  stand  by  you  with  a  devotion  that  no  foreigner  can  approach] 
ready  to  lay  down  our  lives,  if  need  be,  in  defence  of  yours,  interlacing  oi 
industrial,  commercial,  civil  and  religious  life  with  yours  in  a  way  tl 
shall  make  the  interests  of  both  races  one.  In  all  things  that  are  pure 
social  we  can  be  as  separate  as  the  fingers,  yet  one  as  the  hand  in  all  thin| 
essential  to  mutual  progress. 


BOOK  VIIL 

Notable  Women  Orators 

THE  advent  of  woman  into  the  field  of  oratory 
belongs  in  great  measure  to  the  latter  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Kept  for  ages 
from  any  active  participation  in  the  political  affairs 
of  the  nations,  deprived  of  all  opportunity  of  attain- 
ing the  higher  education,  and  confined  as  closely  as 
possible  to  domestic  duties  and  social  interests,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  the  appearance  of  woman  upon 
the  rostrum  in  the  past  was  almost  a  thing  unknown. 
The  greater  freedom  and  broader  education  which 
came  to  her  within  the  nineteenth  century  caused  a 
marked  change  in  this  situation  of  affairs.  And  this 
was  especially  the  case  in  the  United  States,  whose 
republican  institutions  favored  free  thought  and 
untrammeled  action  among  all  classes  of  the  com- 
munity. Naturally  such  great  moral  issues  as  those 
of  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  development  of 
the  temperance  cause  came  early  to  the  front,  and 
enlisted  the  active  co-operation  of  many  women  of 
broad  thought  and  warm  sympathies.  But  while 
woman  was  encouraged  in  giving  her  most  earnest 
attention  to  these  evils,  the  field  of  politics  w^as  firmly 
closed  against  her;  it  not  being  opened  until  1848; 
when  the  first  Woman's  Rights  Convention  was 
called.  In  the  succeeding  period  the  voice  of  woman 
has  been  often  and  effectively  heard,  dealing  with  the 
varied  subjects  of  woman  suffrage,  temperance  reform, 
slavery  abolition,  and  other  moral  and  political  issues. 
Woman  as  an  orator  has  come  to  stay,  and  fairly 
claims  a  place  in  our  record  of  the  world's  oratory. 

335 


ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON  (1815=1902) 

THE  DISTINGUISHED  ADVOCATE  OF  WOMAN^S  RIGHTS 


ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON  passed  a  life  spent  in  forceful 
displays  of  oratory,  and  in  active  labors  for  the  political  and 
^-^  legal  advancement  of  her  sex,  organizing  movements  in  favor 
of  the  rights  of  women,  and  literary  labors  directed  to  the  same  end. 
The  daughter  of  Judge  Daniel  Cady,  of  Johnstown,  New  York,  she 
early  displayed  marked  intelligence,  and  her  indignation  at  being 
refused  admittance  to  the  college  in  which  her  brother  was  educated 
had  much  to  do  with  the  trend  of  her  later  life  labors.  She,  however, 
studied  Latin  and  Greek  and  stored  her  mind  with  much  useful  infor- 
mation. In  everything  she  undertook  she  proved  that  she  had  the 
courage  and  ability  displayed  by  her  brothers.  Marrying  Henry 
B.  Stanton,  a  prominent  orator  and  writer  on  anti-slavery  subjects,  in 
1840,  she  entered  actively  into  the  abolitionist  movement,  and  was  a 
delegate  to  the  World's  Anti-Slavery  Convention  held  in  1841  in 
London.  The  AVoman's  Rights  movement  was  inaugurated  by  her  and 
Lucretia  Mott,  they  issuing  a  call  for  the  first  convention,  which  met 
in  1848  at  Seneca  Falls,  New  York.  She  was  the  soul  of  the  conven- 
tion, and  all  her  life  afterward  worked  actively  for  the  cause  thus 
instituted.  In  1895  her  eightieth  birthday  was  celebrated  in  New 
York  by  three  thousand  delegates  from  women's  societies.  As  an 
orator  Mrs.  Stanton  was  forceful,  logical,  witty,  sarcastic  and  eloque: 

A  PLEA  FOR  EQUAL  RIGHTS 

[On  the  assembling  of  the  first  Woman's  Rights  Convention,  July  19,  1848 
Stanton  delivered  an  impressive  oration,  of  which  we  give  the  eloquent  peroration 

Our  churches  are  multiplying  on  all  sides  ;  our  missionary  societies; 
Sunday-schools,  and  prayer  meetings,  and  innumerable  charitable  and 
reform  organizations  are  all  in  operation  ;    but  still  the  tide  of  vice 


fl 


ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON  337 

swelling  ;  and  threatens  the  destruction  of  everything,  and  the  battlements 
of  righteousness  are  weak  against  the  raging  elements  of  sin  and  death. 
Verily  the  world  waits  the  coming  of  some  new  element,  some  purifying 
power,  some  spirit  of  mercy  and  love.  The  voice  of  woman  has  been 
silenced  in  the  state,  the  church,  and  the  home,  but  man  cannot  fulfill  his 
destiny  alone,  he  cannot  redeem  his  race  unaided.  There  are  deep  and  ten- 
der cords  of  sympathy  and  love  in  the  hearts  of  the  down-fallen  and 
oppressed  that  woman  can  touch  more  skillfully  than  man.  The  world  has 
never  yet  seen  a  truly  great  and  virtuous  nation,  because  in  the  degradation 
of  woman  the  very  fountains  of  life  are  poisoned  at  their  source.  It  is  vain 
to  look  for  silver  and  gold  from  the  mines  of  copper  and  lead.  It  is  the 
wise  mother  that  has  the  wise  son.  So  long  as  your  women  are  slaves 
you  may  throw  your  colleges  and  churches  to  the  winds.  You  can't  have 
scholars  and  saints  so  long  as  your  mothers  are  ground  to  powder  between 
the  upper  and  nether  millstone  of  tyranny  and  lust.  How  seldom,  now, 
is  a  father's  pride  gratified,  his  fond  hopes  realized,  in  the  budding  genius 
of  his  son.  The  wife  is  degraded,  made  the  mere  creature  of  caprice,  and 
the  foolish  son  is  heaviness  to  his  heart.  Truly  are  the  sins  of  the  father 
visited  upon  the  children  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation.  God,  in 
His  wisdom,  has  so  linked  the  human  family  together,  that  any  violence 
done  at  one  end  of  the  chain  is  felt  throughout  its  length  ;  and  here,  too, 
is  the  law  of  restoration — as  in  woman  all  have  fallen,  so  in  her  elevation 
shall  the  race  be  recreated.  **  Voices  "  were  the  visitors  and  advisers  of 
Joan  of  Arc.  Do  not  "  voices  "  come  to  us  daily  from  the  haunts  of 
poverty,  sorrow,  degradation  and  despair,  already  too  long  unheeded? 

Now  is  the  time  for  the  women  of  this  country,  if  they  would  save 
our  free  institutions,  to  defend  the  right,  to  buckle  on  the  armor  that  can 
best  resist  the  keenest  weapons  of  the  enemy — contempt  and  ridicule. 
The  same  religious  enthusiasm  that  nerved  Joan  of  Arc  to  her  work  nerves 
us  to  ours.  In  every  generation  God  calls  some  men  and  women  for  the 
utterance  of  the  truth,  a  heroic  action,  and  our  work  to-day  is  the  ful- 
filling of  what  has  long  since  been  foretold  by  the  prophet — ^Joel  ii.  28  : 
**  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  afterward,  that  I  will  pour  out  my  spirit 
upon  all  flesh,  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy."  We 
do  not  expect  our  path  will  be  strewn  with  the  flowers  of  popular 
applause,  but  over  the  thorns  of  bigotry  and  prejudice  will  be  our  way, 
and  on  our  banners  will  beat  the  dark  storm-clouds  of  opposition  from 
those  who  have  entrenched  themselves  behind  the  stormy  bulwarks  of 
custom  and  authority,  and  who  have  fortified  their  position  by  every 
means,  holy  and  unholy.  But  we  still  steadfastly  abide  the  result. 
Unmoved  we  will  bear  it  aloft.  Undauntedly  we  will  unfurl  it  to  the 
22 


338  ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON 

gale,  for  we  know  that  the  storm  cannot  rend  from  it  a  shred,  that  the 
electric  flash  will  but  more  clearly  show  to  us  the  glorious  words  inscribed 
upon  it,  *  *  Equality  of  Rights. ' ' 

AN  APPEAL  TO  THE  LAWMAKERS 

[From  Mrs.  Stanton's  address  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  State  Woman's  Rights  Convention,  February  14, 1854,  we  quote  as  follows.] 

The  tyrant,  Custom,  has  been  summoned  before  the  bar  of  Common 
Sense.  His  majesty  no  longer  awes  the  multitude  ;  his  sceptre  is  broken  ; 
his  crown  is  trampled  in  the  dust ;  the  sentence  of  death  is  pronounced 
upon  him.  All  nations,  ranks  and  classes  have,  in  turn,  questioned  and 
repudiated  his  authority  ;  and  now,  that  the  monster  is  chained  and  caged, 
timid  woman,  on  tiptoe,  comes  to  look  him  in  the  face,  and  to  demand  of 
her  brave  sires  and  sons,  who  have  struck  stout  blows  for  liberty,  if,  in 
this  change  of  dynasty,  she  too  shall  find  relief. 

Yes,  gentlemen,  in  republican  America,  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
we,  the  daughters  ol  the  revolutionary  heroes  of  '76,  demand  at  your 
hands  the  redress  of  our  grievances — a  revision  of  your  State  Constitution 

— a  new  code  of  laws We  demand  the  full  recognition  of  all  our 

rights  as  citizens  of  the  Empire  State.  We  are  persons  ;  native,  free-born 
citizens  ;  property- holders,  tax-payers,  yet  we  are  denied  the  exercise  of 
our  right  to  the  elective  franchise.  We  support  ourselves,  and,  in  part, 
your  schools,  colleges,  churches,  your  poor-houses,  jails,  prisons,  the 
army,  the  navy,  the  whole  machinery  of  government,  and  yet  we  have  no 
voice  in  your  councils.  We  have  every  qualification  required  by  the  Con- 
stitution, necessary  to  the  legal  voter,  but  the  one  of  sex.  We  are  moral, 
virtuous  and  intelligent,  and  in  all  respects  quite  equal  to  the  proud  white 
man  himself,  and  yet  by  your  laws  we  are  classed  with  idiots,  lunatics  and 
negroes. 

In  fact,  our  legal  position  is  lower  than  that  of  either  ;  for  the  negro 
can  be  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  voter  if  he  possess  himself  of  $250 
lunatic  can  vote  in  his  moments  of  sanity,  and  the  idiot,  too,  if  he  be| 
male  one,  and  not  more  than  nine- tents  a  fool ;  but  we,  who  have  guid< 
great  movements  of  charity,  established  missions,  edited  journals,  pul 
lished  works  on  history,  economy  and  statistics;    who  have  govern* 
nations,  led  armies,  filled  the  professor's  chair,  taught  philosophy  ai 
mathematics  to  the  savants  of  our  age,  discovered  planets,  piloted  shij 
across  the  sea,  are  denied  the  most  sacred  rights  of  citizens,  because,  foJ 
sooth,  we  came  not  into  this  republic  crowned  with  the  dignity  of  ms 
hood! 


SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY  (t820  — 

THE  NOTED  WOMAN  REFORM  ADVOCATE 


EEW  women  in  the  nineteenth  century  were  so  widely  known 
as  Susan  B.  Anthony.  Long  derided  for  her  opinions,  in  time 
she  won  the  respect  and  admiration  of  all  who  were  capable 
of  appreciating  earnest  effort,  and  the  devotion  of  all  who  were  con- 
cerned in  the  woman  suffrage  movement.  She  continued  a  worker  all 
her  life,  first  laboring  for  higher  wages  and  equal  rights  for  women 
teachers,  and  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  subsequently  in  that  of 
woman  suffrage.  She  was  also  an  active  abolitionist.  In  1892  she 
was  elected  president  of  the  National  Woman's  Suffrage  Association, 
a  post  which  Mrs.  Stanton  had  held  for  many  years. 

WOMAN^S  RIGHT  TO  THE  SUFFRAGE 
[A  dramatic  event  in  Miss  Anthony's  life  was  her  arrest  and  trial  for  voting  at  the 
Presidential  election  of  1872.     She  was  fined  $100  and  costs,  but  she  vowed  she  would 
never  pay  this  fine,  and  she  never  did.     The  charge  against  her  of  illegal  action  called 
forth  the  following  forensic  argument.] 

Friends  and  Fki.i.ow-Citizkns  :  I  stand  before  you  to-night,  under 
indictment  for  the  alleged  crime  of  having  voted  at  the  last  Presidential 
election,  without  having  a  lawful  right  to  vote.  It  shall  be  my  work  this 
evening  to  prove  to  you  that  in  thus  voting,  I  not  only  committed  no 
crime,  but,  instead,  simply  exercised  vo^y citizen'' s  rights,  guaranteed  to  me 
and  all  United  States  citizens  by  the  National  Constitution,  beyond  the 
power  of  any  State  to  deny 

The  preamble  of  the  Federal  Constitution  says  : 

"  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect 
union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  com- 
mon defence,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution 
for  the  United  States  of  America." 

839 


340  SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY 

It  was  we,  the  people  ;  not  we,  the  white  male  citizens  ;  nor  yet  we, 
the  male  citizens  ;  but  we,  the  whole  people,  who  formed  the  Union.  And 
we  formed  it,  not  to  give  the  blessings  of  liberty,  but  to  secure  them  ;  not 
to  the  half  of  ourselves  and  the  half  of  our  posterity,  but  to  the  whole 
people — women  as  well  as  men.  And  it  is  a  downright  mockery  to  talk 
to  women  of  their  enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  liberty  while  they  are 
denied  the  use  of  the  only  means  of  securing  them  provided  by  this  demo- 
cratic-republican government — the  ballot. 

The  early  journals  of  Congress  show  that  when  the  committee  reported 
to  that  body  the  original  articles  of  confederation,  the  very  first  article 
which  became  the  subject  of  discussion  was  that  respecting  equality  of 
suffrage.  Article  IV.  said  :  '*  The  better  to  secure  and  perpetuate  mutual 
friendship  and  intercourse  between  the  people  of  the  different  States  of  the 
Union,  the  free  inhabitants  of  each  of  the  States  (paupers,  vagabonds  and 
fugitives  from  justice  excepted),  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and 
immunities  of  the  free  citizens  of  the  several  States." 

Thus,  at  the  very  beginning,  did  the  fathers  see  the  necessity  of  the 
universal  application  of  the  great  principle  of  equal  rights  to  all ;  in  order 
to  produce  the  desired  result — a  harmonious  union  and  a  homogeneous 
people 

B.  Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri,  in  the  three  days'  discussion  in  the 
United  States  Senate  in  1866,  on  Senator  Cowan's  motion  to  strike  the 
word  male  from  the  District  of  Columbia  suffrage  bill,  said  : 

•  "  Mr.  President,  I  say  here  on  the  floor  of  the  American  Senate,  I 
stand  for  universal  suffrage  ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fundamental  principle, 
do  not  recognize  the  right  of  society  to  limit  it  on  any  ground  of  race  or 
sex."  .... 

Charles  Sumner,  in  his  brave  protests  against  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth amendments,  insisted  that,  so  soon  as  by  the  thirteenth  amendment^ 
the  slaves  became  free  men,  the  original  powers  of  the  United  States  Coi 
stitution  guaranteed  to'  them  equal  rights — the  right  to  vote  and  to 
voted  for 

Article  I  of  the  New  York  State  Constitution  says  : 

*  *  No  member  of  this  State  shall  be  disfranchised  or  deprived  of  the 
rights  or  privileges  secured  to  any  citizen  thereof,  unless  by  the  law  of  the_ 
land  or  the  judgment  of  his  peers." 

And  so  carefully  guarded  is  the  citizen's  right  to  vote  that  the  Consti^ 
tution  makes  special  mention  of  all  who  may  be  excluded.     It  says  : 

* '  Laws  may  be  passed  excluding  from  the  right  of  suffrage  all 
sons  who  have  been  or  may  be  convicted  of  bribery,  larceny  or  any  infa- 
mous crime."  .... 


fthe 

•nstiM 

per* 


i 


SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY  341 

**  The  law  of  the  land  "  is  the  United  States  Constitution,  and  there 
is  no  provision  in  that  document  that  can  be  fairly  construed  into  a  per- 
mission to  the  States  to  deprive  any  class  of  their  citizens  of  their  right  toj 
vote.  Hence,  New  York  can  get  no  power  from  that  source  to  disfran- 
chise one  entire  half  of  her  members.  Nor  has  *'  the  judgment  of  their 
peers  ' '  been  pronounced  against  women  exercising  their  right  to  vote ; 
no  disfranchised  person  is  allowed  to  be  judge  or  juror,  and  none  but  dis- 
franchised persons  can  be  women's  peers  ;  nor  has  the  Legislature  passed 
laws  excluding  them  on  account  of  idiocy  or  lunacy  ;  nor  yet  the  courts 
convicted  them  of  bribery,  larceny  or  any  infamous  crime.  Clearly,  then, 
there  is  no  constitutional  ground  for  the  exclusion  of  women  from  the 
ballot-box  in  the  State  of  New  York.  No  barriers  whatever  stand  to-dayl 
between  women  and  the  exercise  of  their  right  to  vote  save  those  of  pre- 
cedent and  prejudice [ 

For  any  State  to  make  sex  a  qualification  that  must  ever  result  in  the 
disfranchisement  of  one  entire  half  of  the  people  is  to  pass  a  bill  of  attain- 
der, or  an  ex  post  facto  law,  and  is  therefore  a  violation  of  the  supreme  law 
of  the  land.  By  it  the  blessings  of  liberty  are  forever  withheld  from 
women  and  their  female  posterity.  To  them  this  government  has  no  just 
powers  derived  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  To  them  this  govern- 
ment is  not  a  democracy.  It  is  not  a  republic.  It  is  an  odious  aristo- 
cracy ;  a  hateful  oligarchy  of  sex  ;  the  most  hateful  aristocracy  ever 
established  on  the  face  of  the  globe  ;  an  oligarchy  of  wealth,  where  the 
rich  govern  the  poor.  An  oligarchy  of  learning,  where  the  educated 
govern  the  ignorant,  or  even  an  oligarchy  of  race,  where  the  Saxon  rules 
the  African,  might  be  endured  ;  but  this  oligarchy  of  sex,  which  makes 
father,  brothers,  husband,  sons  the  oligarchs  over  the  mother  and  sisters, 
the  wife  and  daughters  of  every  household  ;  which  ordains  all  men  sover- 
eigns, all  women  subjects  ;  carries  dissension,  discord  and  rebellion  into 
every  home  of  the  nation . 

Webster,  Worcester  and  Bouvier  all  define  a  citizen  to  be  a  person  in  \ 
the  United  States,  entitled  to  vote  and  hold  ofiice. 

The  only  question  left  to  be  settled  now  is  :  Are  women  persons  ?  And 
I  hardly  believe  any  of  our  opponents  will  have  the  hardihood  to  say  they 
are  not.  Being  persons,  then,  women  are  citizens,  and  no  State  has  a 
right  to  make  any  law,  or  to  enforce  any  old  law,  that  shall  abridge  their 
privileges  or  immunities.  Hence,  every  discrimination  against  women  in 
the  constitutions  and  laws  of  the  several  States  is  to-day  null  and  void, 
precisely  as  in  every  one  against  negroes.  J 


MARY  A.  LIVERMORE  (1 82 J 

A  DISTINGUISHED  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 


DIKE  most  of  the  noted  woman  orators,  Mary  A.  Livermore 
early  in  life  became  deeply  interested  in  the  various  reform 
movements  of  the  time.  Born,  the  daughter  of  Timothy  Rice, 
at  Boston,  Massachusetts,  she  spent  three  years  of  her  early  woman- 
hood on  a  Southern  plantation,  where  there  were  some  five  hundred 
slaves.  The  scenes  she  beheld  there  made  her  one  of  the  most  radical 
of  abolitionists,  and  she  actively  aided  every  movement  for  the  freeing 
of  the  slaves.  Marrying  a  Universalist  minister,  she  became  active  in 
church  work,  writing  many  hymns  and  organizing  a  flourishing  tem- 
perance society  of  boys  and  girls.  During  the  Civil  War  she  was  a 
valuable  worker  in  the  Sanitary  Commission  service,  and  after  the 
war  became  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  Woman's  Suffrage  movement. 
The  first  Woman's  Suffrage  Convention  in  Chicago  was  organized  by 
her,  and  she  became  an  editor,  author  and  lecturer  on  this  subject. 
As  a  lecture  orator  she  was  highly  esteemed. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE 

[Mrs.  Livermore 's  lecture  entitled  "  The  Battle  of  Life,"  was  first  delivered  in, 
her  husband's  pulpit,  on  an  occasion  when  he  was  too  ill  to  officiate,  and  has  since 
been  given  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  times  before  audiences  from  Maine  to  Califor- 
nia.    The  following  selection  is  from  this  very  popular  lecture.] 

When  it  is  declared  that  life  is  a  battle,  a  statement  is  made  that  appe 
to  every  one  who  has  reached  adult  life  ;  aye,  and  to  a  great  multitude 
who  are  only  a  little  way  across  the  threshold.  As  our  experience  deepi 
ens  we  realize  that  the  whole  world  is  one  vast  encampment,  and  thaj 
every  man  and  woman  is  a  soldier.  We  have  not  voluntarily  enlisted  int< 
this  service  with  an  understanding  of  the  hardness  of  the  warfare,  and  ar 
acceptance  of  its  terms  and  conditions,  but  have  been  drafted  into  tl 
342 


MARY  A.  LIVERMORE  343 

conflict,  and  cannot  escape  taking  part  in  it.  We  were  not  even  altow^^d 
to  take  our  place  in  the  ranks,  but  have  been  pushed  into  life,  to  our 
seeming,  arbitrarily,  and  cannot  be  discharged  until  mustered  out  by 
death.  Nor  is  it  permitted  us  to  furnish  a  substitute,  though  we  have 
the  wealth  of  a  Rockefeller  at  our  command,  and  the  powerful  and  far- 
reaching  influence  of  the  Czar  of  all  the  Russias.  We  may  prove  desert- 
ers, or  traitors,  and  straggle  to  the  rear  during  the  conflict,  or  go  over  to 
the  enemy  and  fight  under  the  black  flag  of  wrong.  But  the  fact  remains 
that  we  are  all  drafted  into  the  battle  of  life,  and  are  expected  to  do  our 
duty  according  to  the  best  of  our  ability. 

Do  you  ask  :  ' '  Why  should  life  be  packed  so  full  of  conflict  ?  Why 
was  it  not  planned  to  be  harmonious  and  congenial  ?  "  I  am  unable  to 
answer  that  question,  and  do  not  propose  to  discuss  the  ''  origin  of  evil," 
which  has  vexed  the  various  schools  of  philosophy.  I  accept  the  fact 
that  the  whole  world  has  been  a  scene  of  conflict  as  far  back  as  we  know 
anything  about  it.  The  literature  of  every  nation  resounds  with  it,  and 
the  poets,  teachers,  philosophers,  and  historians  of  all  languages  bear 
uniform  and  universal  testimony  to  the  effect  that  * '  the  whole  creation 
has  always  groaned,  and  travailed  in  pain."  Victory  has  alternated  with 
defeat,  and  every  experience  of  development  in  the  animal  creation  has 
been  purchased  with  a  sharp  emphasis  of  pain.  For  the  world  has  many 
lives  poured  into  it  which  are  sustained  only  as  '  *  each  living  thing  is  up 
with  bill,  or  beak,  or  tooth,  or  claw,  or  toilsome  hand,  or  sweating  brow, 
to  conquer  the  means  of  a  living. ' ' 

The  fact  that  we  are  obliged  to  provide  for  our  physical  needs,  and 
for  those  who  are  dependent  upon  us,  makes  of  life  a  perpetual  struggle. 
Nature  has  not  dealt  with  us  as  with  her  brute  children.  For  them,  in 
the  habitat  to  which  they  are  native,  there  is  food,  water,  clothing,  and 
shelter.  Everything  is  provided  for  them.  But  with  us,  nature  has  dealt 
otherwise.  She  has  given  us  light  to  our  eyes,  air  for  our  lungs,  earth 
from  which  to  win  food,  clothing  and  shelter,  and  water  for  our  thirst. 
Everything  else  that  we  need  or  wish  we  must  win  by  the  hardest  effort. 
As  civilization  has  progressed  we  have  lost  two  of  our  natural  rights, 
possession  of  land  and  water,  and  must  pay  the  price  demanded  for  them. 
And  if  men  by  business  combination  could  take  possession  of  air  and 
light,  we  should  lose  these  also,  and  be  allowed  only  so  much  air  to 
breathe,  and  light  for  our  eyes,  as  we  were  able  to  pay  for. 

In  our  battle  for  physical  existence  there  are  times  when  the  elements 
of  nature  seem  arrayed  against  us.  The  farmer  plows  and  harrows  his 
fields,  and  with  bountiful  hand  sows  his  carefully  selected  seed,  and 
prophecies  a  harvest.     But  the  clouds  withhold  their  rain,  the  heavens 


344  MARY  A.  LIVERMORE 

become  brass,  and  the  earth  iron,  and  a  fierce  drought  parches  the  soil  of  a 
whole  kingdom,  and  burns  the  growing  grain  to  stubble, — and  there  is  a 
famine.  The  accidental  upsetting  of  a  lamp  starts  a  tiny  fire.  Combus- 
tibles feed  it,  winds  fan  it,  and  it  becomes  a  roaring  conflagration,  in 
which  granite  and  iron  melt  like  lead,  a  city  is  consumed  by  the  devour- 
ing flames,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  are  rendered  homeless  and  helpless. 
We  launch  our  proud  ship  into  which  have  gone  the  strength  of  oak,  the 
tenacity  of  iron,  and  the  skillful  workmanship  of  honorable  men.  We 
give  to  its  transportation  an  argosy  of  wealth,  and  to  its  passengers  we 
gladly  toss  a  "  good-by,"  confident  of  their  speedy  arrival  at  their  des- 
tination. But  days  pass  by,  then  weeks  and  months,  and  no  message 
reaches  us  from  this  traveler  of  the  sea,  and  its  fate  is  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture alone.  Some  iceberg  of  the  North  has  crushed  it,  or  it  has 
succumbed  to  the  fury  of  the  tempest,  or  some  unrevealed  weakness  of 
construction  has  betrayed  it  to  destruction  in  mid  ocean.  Volcanoes  and 
earthquakes,  cyclones,  storms,  and  tempests — how  helpless  are  we  when 
overtaken  by  their  wrath,  and  how  heedless  they  are  of  human  suffering. 
When  we  enter  the  world  of  trade  and  commerce,  the  business  world, 
to  use  the  vernacular  of  the  daj^  we  find  the  battle  of  life  raging  fiercely. 
We  find  competition  that  leads  one  man  to  tread  down  others  that  he  may 
rise  on  their  ruin  ;  the  financial  panics,  which  arise  decade  after  decade, 
of  whose  cause  and  cure  the  wisest  and  shrewdest  are  ignorant ;  the  busi- 
ness dishonesty,  which  at  times  threatens  to  make  dishonesty  and  business 
interchangeable  terms  ;  the  insane  and  vulgar  greed  for  riches  that  actuates 
corporations,  monopolies,  trusts,  and  other  like  organizations,  whose  ten- 
dency is  to  deprive  the  wage-earner  of  a  fair  share  of  the  wealth  which  he 
helps  create,  that  their  gains  may  be  larger  and  increase  more  rapidly — all 
these,  and  many  other  practices,  which  obtain  in  the  money-making 
world,  embitter  the  struggle  for  existence,  and  render  the  failure  of  the 
majority  inevitable. 


I 


FRANCES  K  WILLARD  (18394898) 

THE  WOMEN^S  CRUSADE  ORATOR 


I  T  In  1873  began  in  Ohio  the  memorable  "Women's  Crusade" 
I  X  I  ^g^i^st  the  liquor  sellers.  For  months  together  bands  of 
devoted  women  besieged  the  saloons,  entreating  their  keepers 
to  give  up  their  soul-destroying  business,  praying  and  singing  hymns 
in  bar-rooms  or  on  the  sidewalks,  and  with  such  effect  that  many  of 
the  dealers  closed  their  saloons,  and  some  of  them  emptied  barrels  of 
liquor  into  the  gutters.  This  movement  enlisted  the  heart-felt  sym- 
pathy of  Frances  E.  Willard,  then  president  of  a  college  for  women  at 
Evanston,  Illinois.  She  studied  thoroughly  the  history  of  the  temper- 
ance cause,  consulted  with  Neal  Dow  and  other  prohibition  advocates, 
and  joined  in  the  crusade  in  Pittsburgh,  kneeling  in  prayer  on  the 
sawdust-covered  saloon  floors,  and  leading  the  crusaders  in  singing 
"  Rock  of  Ages,"  and  other  hymns. 

This  crusade  movement  was  a  temporary  one,  but  in  Miss  Wil- 
lard it  had  found  an  organizing  head  and  an  energetic  spirit.  There 
were  separate  bands  of  women  temperance  workers  over  the  country. 
These  she  determined  to  combine  into  one  organization,  and  this  was 
done  in  1874  in  the  formation  of  that  great  body,  the  National 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  From  that  time  forward 
Miss  Willard  devoted  herself,  heart  and  soul,  to  the  furtherance  of 
this  noble  temperance  organization.  Under  her  leadership  it  spread 
to  all  parts  of  the  country,  with  main  and  subordinate  branches,  it 
built  the  great  "  Temperance  Temple "  at  Chicago,  it  organized  an 
extensive  publishing  business,  and  its  work  for  good  was  extraor- 
dinary. Throughout,  its  energetic  president  aided  it  with  voice  and 
pen,  until,  worn  out  with  her  labors,  death  took  her  work  from  her 
hands,  leaving  it  for  others  to  carry  on  with  her  resolute  spirit.     No 

345 


346  FRANCES  E.  WILLARD 

woman  in  the  nation  has  done  more  for  the  good  of  her  fellows  than 
Frances  E.  Willard,  and  her  name  should  be  honored  in  our  memories. 

SAFEGUARDS  FOR  WOMEN 
[Miss  Willard's  voice  was  often  heard  in  telling  appeals  for  the  cause  she  had 
most  at  heart,  and  for  its  sister  cause,  woman  suffrage,  since  she  looked  to  the  pos- 
session of  the  ballot  by  women  as  an  efficient  aid  in  Dromoting  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance. From  an  address  delivered  in  Philadelphia  in  1876  we  make  the  following 
characteristic  selection.] 

Longer  ago  than  I  shall  tell,  my  father  returned  one  night  to  the  far- 
off  Wisconsin  home  where  I  was  reared,  and,  sitting  by  my  mother's  chair, 
with  a  child's  attentive  ear  I  listened  to  their  words.  He  told  us  of  the 
news  that  day  had  brought  about  Neal  Dow,  and  the  great  fight  for  Pro- 
hibition down  in  Maine,  and  then  he  said:  ''I  wonder  if  poor,  rum- 
cursed  Wisconsin  will  ever  get  a  law  like  that !  ' '  And  mother  rocked 
awhile  in  silence,  in  the  dear  old  chair  I  love,  and  then  she  gently  said  : 
''Yes,  Josiah,  there'll  be  such  a  law  all  over  the  land  some  day,  when 
women  vote." 

My  father  had  never  heard  her  say  as  much  before.  He  was  a  great 
conservative  ;  so  he  looked  tremendously  astonished,  and  replied  in  his 
keen,  sarcastic  voice  :  "  And  pray,  how  will  you  arrange  it  so  that  women 
shall  vote  ?  "  Mother's  chair  went  to  and  fro  a  little  faster  for  a  minute, 
and  then,  looking  not  into  his  face,  but  into  the  flickering  flames  of  the 
grate,  she  slowly  answered  :  "  Well,  I  say  to  you,  as  the  Apostle  Paul 
said  to  his  jailor  :  '  You  have  put  us  into  prison,  we  being  Romans,  and 
you  must  come  and  take  us  out.'  " 

That  was  a  seed -thought  in  a  girl's  brain  and  heart.  Years  passed 
on,  in  which  nothing  more  was  said  upon  the  dangerous  theme.  My 
brother  grew  to  manhood,  and  soon  after  he  was  twenty-one  years  old  he 
went  with  father  to  vote.  Standing  by  the  window,  a  girl  of  sixteen 
years,  a  girl  of  simple,  homely  fancies,  not  at  all  strong-minded,  and  alt< 
gether  ignorant  of  the  world,  I  looked  out  as  they  drove  away,  my  fath( 
and  brother,  and  as  I  looked  I  felt  a  strange  ache  in  my  heart,  and  teal 
sprang  to  my  eyes.  Turning  to  my  sister  Mary,  who  stood  beside  me, 
saw  that  the  dear  little  innocent  seemed  wonderfully  sober,  too.  I  saidj 
"  Don't  you  wish  that  we  could  go  with  them  when  we  are  old  enough? 
Don't  we  love  our  country  just  as  well  as  they  do  ?  "  and  her  little  fright- 
ened voice  piped  out :  "  Yes,  of  course  we  ought.  Don't  I  know  that 
but  you  mustn't  tell  a  soul — not  mother,  even  ;  we  should  be  called  stronj 
minded." 

In  all  the  years  since  then,  I  have  kept  those  things,  and  many  othei 
like  them,  and  pondered  them  in  my  heart ;  but  two  years  of  struggle 


FRANCES  E.  WILLARD  347 

this  temperance  reform  have  shown  me,  as  they  have  ten  thousand  other 
women,  so  clearly  and  so  impressively  my  duty,  that  I  have  passed  the 
Rubicon  of  Silence,  and  am  ready  for  any  battle  that  shall  be  involved  in 
this  honest  declaration  of  the  faith  that  is  within  me.  "Fight  behind 
masked  batteries  a  little  longer,"  whisper  good  friends  and  true.  Sol 
have  been  fighting  hitherto  ;  but  it  is  a  style  of  warfare  altogether  foreign 
to  my  temperament  and  mode  of  life.  Reared  on  the  prairies,  I  seemed 
pre-determined  to  join  the  cavalry  force  in  this  great  spiritual  war,  and  I 
must  tilt  a  free  lance  henceforth  on  the  splendid  battlefield  of  this  reform  ; 
where  the  earth  shall  soon  be  shaken  by  the  onset  of  contending  hosts  ; 
where  legions  of  valiant  soldiers  are  deploying ;  where  to  the  grand 
encounter  marches  to-day  a  great  army,  gentle  of  mien  and  mild  of  utter- 
ance, but  with  hearts  for  any  fate  ;  where  there  are  trumpets  and  bugles 
calling  strong  souls  onward  to  a  victory  which  Heaven  might  envy,  and 

*'  Where,  behind  the  dim  Unknown, 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow, 
Keeping  watch  above  His  own." 

I  thought  that  women  ought  to  have  the  ballot  as  I  paid  the  hard- 
earned  taxes  upon  my  mother's  cottage  home — but  I  never  said  as  much 
— somehow  the  motive  did  not  command  my  heart.  For  my  own  sake,  I 
had  not  courage  ;  but  I  have  for  thy  sake,  dear  native  land,  for  thy  neces- 
sity is  as  much  greater  than  mine  as  thy  transcendent  hope  is  greater  than 
the  personal  interest  of  thy  humble  child.  For  love  of  j^ou,  heart-broken 
wives,  whose  tremulous  lips  have  blessed  me ;  for  love  of  you,  sweet 
mothers,  who  in  the  cradle's  shadow  kneel  this  night,  beside  your  infant 
sons;  and  you,  sorrowful  little  children,  who  listen  at  this  hour,  with 
faces  strangely  old,  for  him  whose  footsteps  frighten  you  ;  for  love  of  you 
have  I  thus  spoken. 

Ah,  it  is  women  who  have  given  the  costliest  hostages  to  fortune.  Out 
into  the  battle  of  life  they  have  sent  their  best  beloved,  with  fearful  odds 
against  them,  with  snares  that  men  have  legalized  and  set  for  them  on 
every  hand.  Beyond  the  arms  that  held  them  long,  their  boys  have  gone 
forever.  Oh  !  by  the  danger  they  have  dared  ;  by  the  hours  of  patient 
watching  over  beds  where  ihelpless  children  lay  ;  by  the  incense  of  ten 
thousand  prayers  wafted  from  their  gentle  lips  to  Heaven,  I  charge  you 
give  them  power  to  protect,  along  life's  treacherous  highway,  those  whom 
they  have  so  long  loved.  Let  it  no  longer  be  that  they  must  sit  back 
among  the  shadows,  hopelessly  mourning  over  their  strong  staff  broken, 
and  their  beautiful  rod  ;  but  when  the  sons  they  love  shall  go  forth  to 
life's  battle,  still  let  their  mothers  walk  beside  them,  sweet  and  serious, 
and  clad  in  the  garments  of  power. 


BELVA  ANN  LOCKWOOD  (t830 

LECTURER  AND  FORENSIC  ORATOR 


EOR  unflinching  perseverance,  intellectual  power,  logic,  and  elo- 
quence few  women  have  surpassed  Belva  Ann  Lockwood. 
After  the  death  of  her  second  husband,  Rev.  Ezekiel  Lockwood, 
in  1877,  she  entered  the  Syracuse  University,  New  York,  from  which 
she  w^as  graduated  with  the  degree  of  A.M.  She  had  previously  studied 
law  in  Washington,  graduating  in  1873,  and  gaining  admission  to  prac- 
tice in  the  highest  Court  of  the  District.  In  1875,  she  applied  for  ad- 
mission to  the  Court  of  Claims,  and  was  refused  on  the  ground  that  she 
was  a  woman ;  and  afterward,  that  she  was  a  married  woman.  In  1876 
she  applied  for  admission  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
This  was  denied  her  on  the  plea  that  there  was  no  English  precedent. 
Not  to  be  put  down  in  this  way,  she  drafted  a  bill,  which  was  passed  by 
Congress  in  1879,  admitting  women  to  the  Court.  Since  then  she  has 
enjoyed  an  active  and  lucrative  practice.  The  bill  giving  women 
employees  of  the  Government  the  same  pay  as  men  was  originated  by 
her.  She  has  always  been  active  in  the  cause  of  women,  of  temper- 
ance and  labor  reform,  and  in  1884,  and  1888,  was  nominated  for 
President  of  the  United  States  by  the  Equal  Rights  party  of  San 
Francisco. 

THE  POLITICAL  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN 

[Mrs.  Lockwood  has  often  appeared  before  Congressional  Committees  in  the 

cause  of  women,  her  arguments  always  declaring  for  the  full  enfranchisement  of  her 

fellow  women.     We  append  an  extract  from  one  of  these  addresses,  in  favor  of  woman 

suffrage.] 

Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  :  We  come  before  you  to-day,  not 
with  any  studied  eloquence,  far-fetched  erudition,  or  new  theories  for  the 
metamorphosis  of  our  government,  or  the  overthrow  of  our  social  econ 
omy  and  relations,  but  we  come,  asking  for  our  whole  commonwealth,  for 
348 


BELVA  ANN  LOCKWOOD  349 

the  fathers  who  begat  us,  and  the  brothers  at  our  side  ;  for  the  mothers 
who  bore  us,  and  the  sisters  who  go  hand  in  hand  with  us  ;  for  the  orphan 
and  the  widow  unprotected  ;  for  the  wretched  inebriate  and  the  outcast 
Magdalene  ;  for  the  beggars  who  throng  our  streets,  and  the  inmates  of 
our  jails  and  asylums  :  for  these  we  ask  you  that  we  too  may  have  a  hand 
and  a  voice,  a  share  in  this  matter  which  so  nearly  concerns  not  only  our 
temporal  but  even  our  eternal  salvation.  We  ask  you  that  we  may  have 
an  interest  that  shall  awaken  from  its  apathy  fully  one-half  of  the  moral 
and  intellectual  resources  of  the  country,  fully  one-half  of  its  productive 
interest — an  interest  which  contains  in  the  germ  the  physical  power  and 
vital  force  of  the  whole  nation.  Weakness  cannot  beget  power,  ignorance 
cannot  beget  wisdom,  disease  cannot  produce  health.  Look  at  our  women 
of  to-day,  with  their  enfeebled  bodies,  dwarfed  intellects,  laxness  of  moral 
force  ;  without  enough  of  healthy  stimulus  to  incite  them  to  action  ;  and 
compare  them  with  our  grandmothers  of  the  Revolution  and  the  Martha 
Washington  school.  Here  you  find  a  woman  who  dared  to  control  her 
own  affairs  ;  who  superintended  a  farm  of  six  hundred  acres  ;  giving  per- 
sonal instructions  to  the  workmen,  writing  her  own  bills  and  receipts,  and 
setting  an  example  of  industry  and  frugality  to  the  neighboring  women 
who  called  to  see  her. 

I  need  not,  gentlemen,  enumerate  to  you  to  prove  what  I  w4sh  to 
prove  to-day,  the  countless  numbers  of  women  who  have  participated 
creditably  in  government  from  the  days  of  our  Saviour  until  the  present 
time.  You  know  that  Victoria  rules  in  England  ;  and  the  adoration  of 
the  English  heart  to-day  for  its  Queen  found  expression  but  a  few  weeks 
since  in  one  of  our  popular  lecture  halls,  when  the  audience,  composed 
partly  of  Englishmen,  were  asked  to  sing  "  God  Save  the  Queen."  The 
wisdom  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  "  good  Queen  Bess,"  as  she  has  been 
called,  gave  to  England  her  prestige — the  proud  pre-eminence  which  she 
holds  to-day  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Isabella  I.  of  Spain,  the 
patron  saint  of  America,  without  whose  generosity  our  country  to-day 
might  have  been  a  wilderness,  was  never  nobler  than  when,  after  Ferdi- 
nand's refusal,  after  the  refusal  of  the  crowned  authority  of  England,  the 
disapproval  of  the  wise  men  of  her  own  kingdom,  she  rose  in  her  queenly 
majesty,  and  said,  ''  I  undertake  it  for  my  own  crown  of  Castile,  and  will 
pledge  my  jewels  to  raise  the  necessary  funds."  Maria  Theresa,  of  Aus- 
tria, who  assumed  the  reins  of  government  with  her  kingdom  divided  and 
disturbed,  found  herself  equal  to  the  emergency,  brought  order  out  of 
chaos,  and  prosperity  to  her  kingdom.  Christine,  of  Sweden,  brought 
jthat  kingdom  to  the  zenith  of  its  power.  Eugenie,  Empress  of  the 
French,  in  the  late   disastrous  revolution,  assumed  the  regency  of  the 


360  BELVA  ANN  LOCKWOOD 

Empire  in  defiance  of  her  ministry,  and  when  forced  to  flee,  covered  her 
flight  with  a  shrewdness  that  would  have  done  credit  to  Napoleon  himself. 
Florence  Nightingale  brought  order  and  efficiency  into  the  hospitals  of  the 
Crimea  ;  and  Clara  Barton,  with  her  clear  head  and  generous  heart,  has 
lifted  up  the  starving  women  of  Strasburg,  and  made  it  possible  for  them 
to  be  self-sustaining.  I  need  not  cite  to  you  Catharine  of  Russia,  Cleo- 
patra, or  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  who  came  to  admire  the  wisdom  of  Solo- 
mon ;  or  the  Roman  matrons,  Zenobia,  Lucre tia,  Tullia ;  or  revert  to  the 
earliest  forms  of  government  when  the  family  and  the  church  were  law- 
givers ;  remind  you  of  Lydia,  the  seller  of  purple  and  fine  linen,  who 
ruled  her  own  household,  called  to  the  church  ;  of  Aquilla  and  Priscilla, 
whom  Paul  took  with  him  and  left  to  control  the  church  at  Ephesus,  after 
they  had  been  banished  from  Rome  by  the  decree  of  Claudius ;  or  of 
Phoebe,  the  deaconess.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  women  have  been 
sent  as  ministers  and  ambassadors,  the  latter  a  power  fuller  than  our  coun- 
try grants,  to  treat  on  important  State  matters  between  the  crowned  heads 
of  Europe.  In  many  cases  they  have  represented  the  person  of  the  mon- 
arch or  emperor  himself.  France,  since  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
lyouis  XIV.,  through  the  period  of  the  ascendency  of  Napoleon  I.  down 
to  the  reign  of  Napoleon  III.,  has  employed  women  in  diplomacy.  Instan- 
ces maybe  found  recorded  in  a  work  entitled  *'  Napoleon  and  His  Court," 
by  Madame  Junot,  and  also  in  our  own  consular  works.  The  late  Empress 
of  France  has  been  said  to  be  especially  gifted  in  this  respect.  It  has 
been  the  custom  of  Russia  for  the  past  century,  and  still  continues  to  be, 
to  send  women  on  diplomatic  errands.  In  this  empire,  also,  where  the 
voting  is  done  by  households,  a  woman  is  often  sent  to  represent  the 
family. 

Women  are  now  writing  a  large  proportion  of  the  books  and  news- 
papers ',of  the  country,  are  editing  newspapers  and  commanding  ships. 
They  are  admitted  to  law  schools,  medical  schools,  and  the  higher  order 
of  colleges,  and  are  knocking  at  Amherst  and  Yale.  Yea,  more,  they  are 
admitted  to  the  practice  of  law,  as  in  Iowa,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Wyoming 
and  Utah  ;  admitted  to  the  practice  of  medicine  everywhere,  and  more 
recently  to  consultation.  One  hundred  women  jireachers  are  alread;^ 
ordained  and  are  preaching  throughout  the  land.  Women  are  elected 
engrossing  and  enrolling  clerks  in  Legislatures,  as  in  Wisconsin,  Missoi 
and  Indiana  ;  appointed  as  justices  of  the  peace,  as  in  Maine,  Wyoming 
and  Connecticut :  as  bankers  and  brokers,  as  in  New  York  and  St.  Loui 
They  are  filling  as  school  teachers  three-fourths  of  the  schools  of  the  lane 

This  is  more  than  true  of  our  own  city.     Shall  we  not  then  ha'' 
women  school  trustees  and  superintendents  ?     Already  they  are  appoints 


BELVA  ANN  LOCKWOOD  351 

in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  and  women  are  permitted  to  vote  at  Llie 
school  elections.  Who  has  a  deeper  interest  in  the  schools  than  the 
mothers. 

Look  at  the  hundreds  of  women  clerks  in  the  government  depart- 
ments. They  are  all  eligible,  since  the  passage  of  the  Arnell  bill,  to  the 
highest  clerkships.  Look  at  the  postmistresses  throughout  the  land. 
Each  one  a  bonded  officer  of  the  government,  appointed  by  the  President 
and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  the  highest  executive  power  in  t;he  land. 
"  The  power  of  the  President  to  appoint,  and  of  the  Senate  to  confirm,  has 
never  been  questioned  by  our  highest  Courts.  Being  bonded  officers,  they 
must  necessarily  qualify  before  a  judicial  of&cer." 

And  now,  gentlemen  of  the  Committee  on  Laws  and  Judiciary,  what- 
ever may  be  your  report  on  these  bills  for  justice  and  equality  to  women, 
committed  to  your  trust,  I  hope  you  will  bear  in  mind  that  you  have 
mothers,  wives,  sisters,  daughters,  who  will  be  affected  by  your  decision. 
They  may  be  amply  provided  for  to-day,  and  be  beggared  to-morrow. 
Remember  that  "  life  is  short  and  time  is  fleeting,"  but  principles  never 
die.  You  hold  in  your  hands  a  power  and  an  opportunity  to-day  to 
render  yourselves  immortal — an  opportunity  that  comes  but  once  in  a  life- 
time. Shakespeare  says  :  ''  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men  which, 
taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune."  Gentlemen,  the  flood-tide  is 
with  you  !  Shall  this  appeal  be  in  vain  ?  I  hold  in  my  hands  the  names 
of  hundreds  of  men  and  women  of  our  city  pledged  to  this  work,  and 
they  will  not  relax  their  efibrts  until  it  is  accomplished. 

'  *  Truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again  ; 

The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers ; 
But  Error,  wounded,  writhes  in  pain 

And  dies,  amid  her  worshipers." 


ANNA  E.  DICKINSON  (J 842 

THE  ELOQUENT  VOMAN  ORATOR 


i 


F  the  many  women  orators  in  the  United  States,  it  is  doubtful 
if  any  have  equalled  Anna  E.  Dickinson  in  powers  of  oratory. 
In  1861,  when  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  she  entered  the 
arena  of  political  and  reform  oratory,  astonishing  all  who  heard  her 
by  her  fervid  eloquence  and  rare  elocutionary  powers.  When  a  child 
of  fourteen  she  had  written  an  article  against  slavery,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Liba-ator,  and  at  fifteen  she  made  her  first  appearance  as 
a  public  speaker,  in  answer  to  a  man  who  had  delivered  a  tirade 
against  women.  From  that  time  her  voice  was  often  heard  on  the 
subjects  of  slavery  and  temperance.  Dismissed  in  1861  from  a  posi- 
tion in  the  United  States  Mint,  because  in  a  speech  at  West  Chester  she 
had  charged  General  McClellan  with  causing  the  disaster  at  Ball's  Bluff, 
she  entered  upon  her  true  vocation,  that  of  a  lecturer.  At  the  request  of 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  who  had  heard  her,  and  named  her  "  The 
Girl  Orator,'^  she  delivered  a  memorable  address  in  Music  Hall,  Bos- 
ton, on  "  The  National  Crisis."  From  there  she  spoke  widely,  and 
with  the  most  flattering  success,  through  the  East.  The  war  ended, 
she  took  up  woman's  suffrage  and  other  themes,  delivering  in  Utai 
lier  famous  lecture  on  *'  Whited  Sepulchres." 

In  1877,  Miss  Dickinson  made  the  serious -©ffor  of  deserting  t 
platform  for  the  stage.     She  lacked  the  histrionic  faculty,  and  all 
as  an  actress,  a  dramatic  reader,  and  a  playwright  she  proved  a  fail- 
ure.    Her  plays  were  *' Marie  Tudor"  and  ''Anne  Boleyn,"  in  both  of 
which  she  played  the  leading  part,  without  previous  training  as 
actress.     Several  novels  written  by  her  also  failed  to  achieve  succei 
and  the  later  period  of  her  life  was  one  of  mistakes  and  misfortun 
Her  principaTEooks  were  *' A  Paying  Investment  "  and  "A  Kaggi 
352 


.d, 

I 


ANNA  E.  DICKINSON  353 

Register  of  People,  Places  and  Opinions."  As  an  orator  she  had  singu-" 
larly  fine  powers,  being  a  mistress  of  sarcasm,  pathos  and  wit,  and 
possessing  excellent  judgment  and  faculty  of  logical  analysis,  com- 
bined with  that  dramatic  fervor  of  eloquence  which  is  necessary  to 
successful  oratory. 

WHY  COLORED  MEN  SHOULD  ENLIST 

[At  a  meeting  held  at  Philadelphia  in  1863,  to  promote  the  enlistment  of  colored 
men  in  the  army,  speeches  were  made  by  Judge  Kelley  and  Frederick  Douglass.  But 
the  oratorical  feature  of  the  occasion  was  the  stirring  appeal  of  Anna  Dickinson.  The 
warrantlor"tfie  enthusiasm  it  aroused  is  evident  in  the  following  extract  from  her 
speech.]  — 

True,  through  the  past  we  have  advocated  the  use  of  the  black  man. 
For  what  end  ?     To  save  ourselves.     We  wanted  them  as  shields,  as  bar-  J 

riers,  as  walls  of  defence.     We  would  not  even  say  to  them,  fight  beside  j^iljLr 
us.     We  would  put  them  in  the  front — their  brains  contracted,  their  souls^^^^l ^> 
dwarfed,  their  manhood   stunted — mass  them   together;  let   them   die!"^ 
That  will  cover  and  protect  us.     Now  we  hear  the  voice  of  the  people, 
solemn   and  sorrowful,  saying,  ''  We  have  wronged  you  enough  ;  you  Lr 

have  suflfered  enough  ;  we  ask  no  more  at  your  hands  ;  we  stand  aside,  v  ^f 
and  let  you  fight  for  your  own  manhood,  your  future,  your  race. ' '  Anglo-  L  fj^ 
Africans,  we  need  you  ;  yet  it  is  not  because  of  this  need  that  I  ask  you 
to  go  into  the  ranks  of  the  regiments  forming  to  fight  in  this  war.«f_^My 
ebeek^'  would  ^imson  with  shame,  while  my  lips  put  the  request  that 
QOuM  be  ans.^ered ,  "Your  soldiers?  why  don't  you  give  us  the  same 
JjSl^ty,  an^the  same  pay  as  the  rest?  "  I  have  no  replj^to  that./  ^But 
foV  yourselves ;  because,  after  ages  of  watching  and  agony,  your  day 
is  breaking ;  because  your  hour  is  come ;  because  you  hold  the  ham- 
mer which,  upheld  or  falling,  decides  your  destiny  for  woe  or  weal; 
because  you  have  reached  the  point  from  which  you  must  sink,  genera- 
tion after  generation,  century  after  century,  into  deeper  depths,  into  more 
absolute  degradation  ;  or  mount  to  the  heights  of  glory  and  fame.j 

The  cause  needs  you.     This  is  not  our  war,  not  a  war  for  territory  ; 
not  a  war  for  martial  power,  for  mere  victory  ;  it  is  a  war  of  the  races,  of        j\  ^' 
the  ages ;    the  Stars  and  Stripes  is  the  people's  flag  of  the   world ;  the 
world  must  be  gathered  under  its  folds,  the  black  man  beside  the  white. 

Thirteen  dollars  a  month  and  bounty  are  good ;  liberty  is  better. 
Ten  dollars  a  month  and  no  bounty  is  bad,  slavery  is  worse.  The  two 
alternatives  are  before  you  ;  you  make  your  own  future.     The  tlFbe  witl, 


in-a  little  while,  do  you  justice.     Soldiers  will  be  proud  to  welcome  as    f\ 

comrades,   as   brothers,  the  black  men  of  Port  Hudson  and  Milliken's    JJ 

23  ^ 


r 


354  ANNA  E.  DICKINSON 

Bend.  Congress,  next  winter,  will  look  out  through  the  fog  and  mist  of 
Washington,  and  will  see  how,  when  Pennsylvania  was  invaded  and  Phil- 
adelphia threatened,  while  white  men  haggled  over  bounty  and  double 
pay  to  defend  their  own  city,  their  own  homes,  with  the  tread  of  armed 
rebels  almost  heard  in  their  streets  ;  black  men,  without  bounty,  without 
pay,  without  rights  or  the  promise  of  any,  rushed  to  the  beleaguered 
capital,  and  were  first  in  their  offers  of  life  or  of  death.  Congress  will 
say,  "  These  men  are  soldiers  ;  we  will  pay  them  as  such  ;  these  men  are 
marvels  of  loyalty,  self-sacrifice,  courage  ;  we  will  give  them  a  chance  of 
promotion."  History  will  write;  *'  Behold  the  unselfish  heroes  ;  the  eager 
martyrs  of  this  war. ' ' 

You  hesitate  because  you  have  not  all.  Your  brothers  and  sisters  of 
the  South  cry  out,  **  Come  to  help  us,  we  have  nothing."  Father  !  you 
hesitate  to  send  your  boy  to  death  ;  the  slave  father  turns  his  face  of  dumb 
entreaty  to  you,  to  save  his  boy  from  the  death  in  life  ;  the  bondage  that 
crushes  soul  and  body  together.  Shall  your  son  go  to  his  aid  ?  Mother  ! 
you  look  with  pride  at  the  manly  face  and  figure,  growing  and  strength- 
ening beside  you  !  He  is  yours;  your  own.  God  gave  hinar- to  you. 
From  the  lacerated  hearts,  the  wrung  souls,  of  other  mothers,  comes  the 
wail,  "  My  child,  v^r^ild  ;  give  me  back  my  child  !  "  The  slave- 
master  heeds  not ;  the  Government  is  tardy  ;  mother  !  the  prayer  comes 
to  you  ;  will  you  falter  ? 

Young  man,  rejoicing  in  the  hope,  the  courage,  the  will,  the  thews 
and  muscles  of  young  manhood  ;  the  red  glare  of  this  war  falls  on  the 
faces  and  figures  of  other  young  men,  distorted  with  suffering,  writhing 
in  agony,  wrenching  their  manacles  and  chains,  shouting  with  despairing 
voices  to  you  for  help — shall  it  be  withheld  ? 

The  slaves  will  be  freed — with  or  without  you.  The  conscience  am 
heart  of  the  people  have  decreed  that./.  Xerxes  scourging  the  Hellespont 
Canute  commanding  the  waves  to  roll  back,  are  but  types  of  that  follj^ 
which  stands  up  and  says  to  this  majestic  wave  of  public  opinion,  "  Thus 
tax^  The  black  man  will  be  a  citizen  only  by  stamping  his  right  to  it 
in  blood.  Now  or  never !  You  have  not  homes  ! — gain  them.  You 
have  not  liberty  ! — gain  it.  You  have  not  a  flag  ! — gain  it.  You  have 
not  a  country  ! — be  written  down  in  history  as  the  race  who  made  one  for 
themselves,  and  saved  one  for  another. 


BOOK  IK 

Speakers  on  Festive  Occasions 

AMONG  the  various  incitements  to  oratory,  we 
cannot  neglect  that  of  the  social  hall — the 
banquet,  or  other  occasion  of  high  festivity— 
in  which  those  capable  of  ''speaking  on  their  feet" 
are  often  called  upon  to  add  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
assembled  guests.  While  ceremonial  banquets  are 
frequently  made  the  occasion  for  sober  pronounce- 
ments on  topics  of  national  interest,  the  after-dinner 
speech,  as  a  rule,  is  of  a  light  and  amusing  character. 
Even  if  the  speaker  has  a  lesson  to  teach,  an  opinion 
to  promulgate,  he  seeks  to  interlard  his  serious  sen- 
tences with  sauce  for  laughter.  The  covert  satire, 
the  open  jest,  the  merry  anecdote  are  then  much  in 
evidence,  and  the  most  admired  speaker  on  such  an 
occasion  is  he  who  has  the  art  of  illuminating  his 
moral  with  words  of  mirth,  and  is  best  capable  of 
sharpening  with  wit  or  mellowing  with  humor  the 
points  of  serious  intent  which  he  may  desire  to  make. 
In  the  following  selections  of  social  oratory  we  have 
sought  to  conform  to  the  ruling  spirit  of  such  occa- 
sions, that  of  the  light  touch  and  the  mirthful  allu- 
sion. Oratory  in  its  more  famous  examples  appeals 
to  the  deeper  strata  of  human  thought.  In  the 
present  section,  therefore,  we  have  confined  our 
choice  to  speakers  admired  for  mirth-provoking  lan- 
guage, as  a  foil  to  the  gravity  and  weight  of  much  of 
the  other  material  offered.  While  these,  as  a  rule, 
cannot  justly  be  classed  among  the  world's  great 
orators,  they  occupy  a  distinct  and  interesting  place 
in  the  oratorial  domain. 

355 


CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW  (1834 

THE  ORACLE  OF  HUMOR 


as  the  pioneer  in  our  list  of  social  orators  we  cannot  do  better 
than  select  one  who  ranks  as  the  most  famous  of  them  all, 
Chauncey  M.  Depew,  a  man  whose  unctious  humor  and  rollick- 
ing anecdotes  have  probably  set  more  men  roaring  with  laughter 
than  any  other  public  speaker  of  the  last  years  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury and  the  openning  of  the  twentieth.  Depew  can  be  serious  upon 
proper  occasion.  He  would  scarcely,  for  instance,  be  guilty  of  a  joke 
within  the  decorous  Senate  chamber. 

Depew,  a  native  of  New  York  State,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale,  be- 
came a  railroad  lawyer,  a  railroad  vice-president,  and  a  railroad  presi- 
dent in  succession.  Since  1885  he  has  controlled  the  destinies  of  the 
New  York  Central  and  the  West  Shore  roads.  His  public  duties  have 
included  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  for  New  York,  and  of  Minister 
to  Japan.  He  refused  a  United  States  Senatorship  offered  him  by  the 
New  York  legislature  in  1884,  had  the  honor  of  receiving  one  hun- 
dred votes  for  the  presidential  nomination  in  the  National  Republican 
Convention  of  1888,  and  in  1899  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  from  New  York.  His  rich  gift  of  oratory  has,  doubtless 
much  to  do  with  his  successes  in  the  political  field. 

THE  NEW  NETHERLANDERS 
[The  New  England  Society,  an  association  founded  in  honor  of  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrims,  has  spread  itself  widely  over  the  United  States,  wherever  the  sons  of| 
the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans  have  migrated  from  their  native  soil.  New  York  boasts 
flourishing  outgrowth  from  the  parent  society;  Philadelphia  has  its  representative  j 
branch  ;  and  various  other  cities,  even  as  far  south  as  New  Orleans,  are  thus  honored. 
The  main  public  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  Society  is  its  annual  banquet,  given 
on  the  22d  of  December.  The  Pilgrims,  the  date  of  whose  landing  is  thus  honored, 
set  foot  on  Plymouth  Rock  on  December  nth.     But  this  date  belongs  to  the  old  stylej 

366 


CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW  357 

chronology.  To  change  it  to  New  Style  ten  days  need  to  be  added,  making  the  date 
December  21st.  But  through  some  mistate  in  counting,  "Forefather's  Day"  is 
usually  kept  on  December  226.  in  New  England,  and  the  Society  holds  its  anniversary 
on  the  same  date  elsewhere.  Its  meetings  have  long  been  favorite  occasions  for 
humorous  speeches  by  orators  of  note,  in  which  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans  are  made 
the  victims  of  many  witty  and  satirical  allusions.  We  select  an  example  from 
Depew's  remarks  at  the  sixth  annual  festival  of  the  New  England  Society  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, at  Philadelphia,  December  22,  1886.  He  responded  to  the  toast:  "The  New 
Netherlanders ;  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  Manhattan."] 

It  is  a  most  extraordinary  thing  that  one  should  come  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  attending  a  New  England  dinner.  It 
is  a  most  extraordinary  thing  that  a  New  England  dinner  should  be  held 
in  Philadelphia.  Your  chairman  to  night  spoke  of  the  hard  condition  of 
the  Puritans  who  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock.  I^et  me  say  that  if  the 
Puritans  had  come  up  the  Delaware,  landed  here  and  begun  life  with  terra- 
pin and  canvassback  duck,  there  never  would  have  been  any  Puritan  story 
to  be  retailed  from  year  to  year  at  Forefather's  dinners.  If  William  Penn 
had  ever  contemplated  that  around  his  festive  board  would  sit  those  Puri- 
tans with  whom  he  was  familiar  in  England,  he  would  have  exclaimed  : 
"  I,et  all  the  savages  on  the  continent  come,  but  not  them." 

It  is  one  of  the  pleasing  peculiarities  of  the  Puritan  mind,  as 
evinced  in  the  admirable  address  of  Mr.  Curtis  here  to-night  (and  when 
you  have  heard  Mr.  Curtis  you  have  heard  the  best  that  a  New  Englander, 
who  has  been  educated  in  New  York,  can  do)  that  when  they  erect  a 
monument  in  Philadelphia  or  New  York  to  the  Pilgrim  or  Puritan,  they 
say  :  ' '  See  how  these  people  respect  the  man  whom  they  profess  to  revile. ' ' 
But  they  paid  for  them  and  built  the  monuments  themselves  !  The  only 
New  Englanders  of  Philadelphia  whom  I  have  met  are  the  officials  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad.  When  I  dine  with  them,  enjoy  their  hospitality, 
revel  in  that  glorious  sociability  which  is  their  characteristic  and  charm, 
I  think  that  they  are  Dutchmen.  When  I  meet  them  in  business,  and  am 
impressed  with  their  desire  to  possess  the  earth,  I  think  that  they  came 
over  in  the  "  Mayflower." 

There  is  no  part  of  the  world  to-night,  whether  it  be  in  the  Arctic 
zone,  or  under  the  equatorial  sun,  or  in  monarchies,  or  in  despotisms,  or 
among  the  Fiji  Islanders,  where  the  New  Englanders  are  not  gathered  for 
the  purpose  of  celebrating  and  feasting  upon  Forefather's  Day.  But  there 
is  this  peculiarity  about  the  New  Englander,  that,^if  he  cannot  find  any- 
body to  quarrel  with,  he  gets  up  a  controversy  with  himself,  inside  of  him- 
self. We  who  expect  to  eat  this  dinner  annually — and  to  take  the  conse- 
quences— went  along  peacefully  for  years  with  the  understanding  that  the 
22nd  of  December  was  the  day,  when  it  suddenly  broke  out  that  the  New 


358  CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW 

Knglander,  within  himself,  had  got  up  a  dispute  that  the  21st  was  the  day. 
I  watched  it  with  interest,  because  I  always  knew  that  when  a  Yankee 
got  up  a  controversy  with  anybody  else,  it  was  for  his  profit ;  and  I  won- 
dered how  he  could  make  anything  by  having  a  quarrel  with  himself. 
Then  I  found  that  he  ate  both  the  dinners  with  serene  satisfaction  !  But 
why  should  a  Dutchman,  a  man  of  Holland  descent,  bring  "  coals  to  New- 
castle ' '  by  coming  here  among  the  Pennsylvania  Dutch  for  the  purpose  of 
attending  a  New  England  dinner  ?  It  is  simply  another  tribute  extorted 
by  the  conqueror  from  the  conquered  people,  in  compelling  him  not  only 
to  part  with  his  possessions,  his  farms,  his  sisters,  his  daughters,  but  to 
attend  the  feast,  to  see  devoured  the  things  raised  upon  his  own  farm, 
and  then  to  assist  the  conqueror  to  digest  them  by  telling  him  stories. 
My  familiarity  with  the  Boston  mind  and  its  peculiarities  was  when  I 
was  a  small  boy,  in  that  little  Dutch  hamlet  on  the  Hudson  where  I  was 
born,  when  we  were  electrified  by  the  State  Superintendant  of  Massachu- 
setts coming  to  deliver  us  an  address.  He  said  :  "  My  children,  there  was 
a  little  flaxen-haired  boy  in  a  school  that  I  addressed  last  year ;  and  when 
I  came  over  this  year  he  was  gone.  Where  do  you  suppose  he  had  gone  ?' ' 
One  of  our  little  Dutch  innocents  replied,  "  To  heaven."  "  Oh,  no,  my 
boy,"  the  Superintendent  said,  "  he  is  a  clerk  in  a  store  in  Boston." 

OUR  ENGLISH  VISITORS 

[The  selection  here  given  is  from  a  speech  by  Mr.  Depew  at  a  dinner  given  by 
the  Lotus  Club,  of  New  York,  January  10,  1885,  in  honor  of  George  Augustus  Sala, 
who  had  stopped  in  that  city  on  his  way  to  a  lecture  in  Australia.] 

A  modern  Briton ,  when  he  feels  that  he  has  a  mission  to  reveal  to  the 
world,  goes  out,  not  to  the  country  which  needs  it  most,  his  own,  but  comes 
over  here  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  purest  philanthropy  lets  us  have  it  at 
$200  a  night.  And  that  is  the  reason  why  Mr.  Sala,  notwithstanding  his 
modest  declaimer  that  he  is  a  traveler  sojourning  through  the  land,  goes 
to  San  Francisco  by  way  of  Portland  and  Boston.  Now,  then,  the  present 
commercial  difl&culties  in  this  country — lack  of  prosperity,  the  closing  of 
the  mills  and  all  that  which  we  are  accustomed  to  ascribe  to  the  fact 
that  a  Democratic  Administration  has  come  into  power — are  due  to  this 
horde  of  English  lecturers.  But  like  the  Chinaman  who  comes  here,  to 
accumulate  and  not  to  stay,  he  carries  away  with  him  all  our  surplus  and 
leaves  nothing  but  ideas. 

I  well  remember,  as  do  you,  Mr.  President,  when  this  system  of  insid-' 
ious  English  attack  upon  our  institutions  was  begun.     Thackeray,  that] 
grand- hearted  and  genial  critic,  began  it ;  Dickens,  with  his  magnificent 
dramatic   talent,   continued  it,  and  then  what  have  we  suffered  since 


CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW  359 

Look  at  Sergeant  Ballantyne,  who  brought  to  us  jokes  so  old  that  they 
fall  within  the  provisions  of  the  penal  act,  and  carried  away  stories  which 
have  since  convulsed  the  British  Empire.  Look  at  Herbert  Spencer,  the 
dyspeptic — lean,  hungry,  sleepless,  emaciated,  prostrated  with  nervous 
prostration — he  appeared  before  us  looking  for  all  the  world  like  Pickwick 
gone  to  seed,  and  lectured  us  upon  overwork.  Look  at  Matthew  Arnold, 
that  apostle  of  light  and  sunshine,  who  came  here  and  had  an  experience 
which  might  excite  the  compassion  of  all.  He  found  himself  in  that 
region  from  which  Mr.  Pulitzer  hails,  in  the  midst  of  what  is  termed  a 
lecture  corpse.  The  lecture  manager  made  this  introductory  speech : 
*'  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  next  week  we  shall  have  here  those  beautiful 
singers,  the  Johnson  sisters  ;  two  weeks  from  to-night  Professor  Force- 
Wind  will  give  us  magnificent  views  of  Europe  upon  the  magic  lantern  ; 
and  to-night  I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  that  distinguished 
philosopher  who  has  passed  most  of  his  life  in  India,  who  is  the  author 
of  that  great  poem,  *  The  Light  of  Asia.'  " 

LIBERTY  ENLIGHTENING  THE  WORLD 

[As  an  example  of  Depew's  graver  vein,  we  select  the  following  extract  from 
his  remarks  in  1886,  during  the  dedication  of  the  famous  statue  in  New  York  harbor.] 

American  liberty  has  been  for  a  century  a  beacon  light  for  the  nations. 
Under  its  teachings  and  by  the  force  of  its  example,  the  Italians  have 
expelled  their  petty  and  arbitrary  princelings  and  united  under  a  parlia- 
mentary government ;  the  gloomy  despotism  of  Spain  has  been  expelled^ 
by  the  representatives  of  the  people  and  a  free  press  ;  the  great  German 
race  has  demonstrated  its  power  for  empire  and  its  ability  to  govern  itself. 
The  Austrian  monarch  who,  when,  a  hundred  years  ago,  Washington 
pleaded  with  him  across  the  seas  for  the  release  of  Lafayette  from  the  dun- 
geon of  Olmutz,  replied  that  "  he  had  not  the  power,"  because  the  safety 
of  his  throne  and  his  pledges  to  his  royal  brethren  of  Europe  compelled 
him  to  keep  confined  the  one  man  who  represented  infranchisement  of  the 
people  of  every  race  and  country,  is  to-day,  in  the  person  of  his  successor, 
rejoicing  with  his  subjects  in  the  limitations  of  a  constitution  which  guar- 
antees liberties,  and  a  congress  which  protects  and  enlarges  them.  Magna 
Charta,  won  at  Runnymede  for  Englismen,  and  developed  into  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  with  their  descendants,  has 
returned  to  the  mother  country  to  bear  fruit  in  an  open  parliament,  a  free 
press,  the  loss  of  royal  perogative,  and  the  passage  of  power  from  the 
classes  to  the  masses. 


WHITELAW  REID  (1837 ) 

AN  EXPONENT  OF  EDITORIAL  ORATORY 


mHE  New  York  Tribune  has  for  many  years  been  a  power  in 
Republican  politics  and  a  weight  in  national  affairs,  and  its 
destinies,  since  its  establishment  more  than  sixty  years  ago, 
have  remained  in  the  hands  of  two  men;  Horace  Greeley,  who  made  it 
what  it  is,  and  Whitelaw  Reid,  who  has  faithfully  maintained  the 
policy  of  his  able  former  chief.  During  and  after  the  Civil  War  Reid 
was  a  correspondent  of  the  Gazette,  of  Cincinnati,  and  for  several  years 
served  as  librarian  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  joined  the 
staff  of  the  Tribune  in  1868,  and  made  such  notable  progress  in  this 
new  field  of  labor  that  in  1872,  on  the  death  of  Greeley,  he  succeeded 
him  as  chief  editor  and  principal  proprietor.  Since  then  he  has 
played  some  part  in  national  politics  and  diplomacy.  From  1889  to 
1892  he  was  United  States  Minister  to  France.  After  the  war  with 
Spain,  in  1898,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Peace  Commission  which 
handled  the  aftermath  of  that  brief  conflict. 

THE  PRESS-RIGHT  OR  WRONG 

[On  the  occasion  of  the  one  hundred  and  eighth  annual  banquet  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New  York, — May  4,  1876 — Mr.  Reid  was  one  of  the 
guests  and  orators,   responding  to   the   toast,  "The  Press — right  or  wrong  ;  when, 
right,  to  be  kept  right ;  when  wrong,  to  be  set  right."     We  quote  from  his  remarl 
on  this  appropriately  placed  topic] 

Mr.  President:  The  Press  is  without  clergymen  or  counsel;  and  yottj 
doubtless  wish  it  were  without  voice.     At  this  hour  none  of  you  have  the} 
least  desire  to  hear  anything  or  to  say  anything  about  the  press.     There 
are  a  number  of  very  able  gentlemen  who  were  ranged  along  that  platfoi 
— I  utterly  refuse  to  say  whether  I  refer  to  Presidential  candidates  or  not' 
— but  there  were  a  number  of  very  able  gentlemen  who  were  ranged  along 
860 


WHITELAW  REID  361 

that  table,  who  are  very  much  more  anxious  to  know  what  the  press 
to-morrow  morning  will  have  to  say  about  them,  and  I  know  it  because  I 
saw  the  care  with  which  they  handed  up  to  the  reporters  the  manuscript 
copies  of  their  entirely  unprepared  and  extempore  remarks. 

Gentlemen,  the  Press  is  a  mild-spoken  and  truly  modest  institution 
which  never  chants  its  own  praises.  Unlike  Walt  Whitman,  it  never  cele- 
brates itself.  Even  if  it  did  become  me — one  of  the  youngest  of  its  con- 
ductors in  New  York — to  undertake  at  this  late  hour  to  inflict  upon  you 
its  eulogy,  there  are  two  circumstances  which  might  well  make  me  pause. 
It  is  an  absurdity  for  me — an  absurdity,  indeed,  for  any  of  us — to  assume 
to  speak  for  the  Press  of  New  York  at  a  table  where  William  Cullen 
Bryant  sits  silent.  Besides,  I  have  been  reminded  since  I  came  here,  by 
Dr.  Chapin,  that  the  pithiest  eulogy  ever  pronounced  upon  the  first  editor 
of  America,  was  pronounced  in  this  very  room  and  from  that  very  plat- 
form by  the  man  who  at  that  time  was  the  first  of  living  editors  in  this 
country,  when  he  said  that  he  honored  the  memory  of  Benjamin  Franklin 
because  he  was  a  journeyman  printer  who  did  not  drink,  a  philosopher 
who  wrote  common  sense,  and  an  ofi&ce-holder  who  did  not  steal. 

One  word  only  of  any  seriousness  about  your  toast ;  it  says  :  ' '  The 
Press — right  or  wrong  ;  when  right,  to  be  kept  right ,  when  wrong,  to  be 
set  right."  Gentlemen,  this  is  your  affair.  A  stream  will  not  rise  higher 
than  its  fountain.  The  Hudson  River  will  not  flow  backward  over  the 
Adirondacks.  The  Press  of  New  York  is  fed  and  sustained  by  the  com- 
merce of  New  York,  and  the  Press  of  New  York  to-day,  bad  as  it  is  in 
many  respects — and  I  take  my  full  share  of  the  blame  it  fairly  deserves — 
is  just  what  the  merchants  of  New  York  choose  to  have  it.  If  you  want 
it  better,  you  can  make  it  better.  So  long  as  you  are  satisfied  with  it  as 
it  is,  sustain  it  as  it  is,  take  it  into  your  families  and  into  your  counting- 
rooms  as  it  is,  and  encourage  it  as  it  is,  it  will  remain  what  it  is. 

If,  for  instance,  the  venerable  leader  of  your  Bar,  conspicuous  through 
a  long  life  for  the  practice  of  every  virtue  that  adorns  his  profession  and  his 
race,  is  met  on  his  return  from  the  very  jaws  of  the  grave,  as  he  re-enters 
the  Court-room  to  undertake  again  the  gratuitous  championship  of  your 
cau^  against  thieves  who  robbed  you,  with  the  slander  that  he  is  himself 
athief  of  the  meanest  kind,  a  robber  of  defenceless  women — I  say,  if  such 
a  man  is  subject  to  such  persistent  repetition  of  such  a  calumny  in  the 
very  city  he  has  honored  and  served,  and  at  the  very  end  and  crown  of  his 
life,  it  is  because  you  do  not  choose  to  object  to  it  and  make  your  objec- 
tion felt.  A  score  of  similar  instances  will  readily  occur  to  anyone  who 
runs  over  in  his  memory  the  course  of  our  municipal  history  for  the  last 
•Clozen  years,  but  there  is  no  time  to  repeat  or  even  refer  to  them  here. 


EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE  (J 822 

AUTHOR,  LECTURER  AND  PULPIT  ORATOR 


mN  1861,  the  openiag  year  of  the  Civil  War,  a  decided  sensation 
was  produced  by  the  appearance  of  a  remarkable  work,  entitled 
"  The  Man  Without  a  Country."  It  came  at  an  opportune  time, 
when  millions  of  our  people  seemed  bent  upon  discarding  the  country  of 
the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  detailed  the  melancholy  experience  of  one 
man  whose  sentence  for  treason  against  the  United  States  was  that  he 
should  thenceforth  live  in  utter  oblivion  of  the  land  of  his  birth  and 
allegiance.  As  worked  up  by  the  skillful  pen  of  the  writer,  the  Rev. 
Edward  Everett  Hale,  the  fate  of  this  exile  was  most  vividly  portrayed, 
and  the  work  became  one  of  the  literary  phenomena  of  its  day. 

NEW  ENGLAND  CULTURE 
[Mr.  Hale  may  be  held  to  possess  excellent  standing  before  the  American  people 
as  an  orator  as  well  as  a  writer  ;  as  a  lecturer  as  well  as  a  pulpit  speaker.  Whatever 
he  writes  is  fresh  and  spicy,  and  much  that  he  says  has  the  same  quality.  As  a  guest 
of  the  New  England  Society  in  the  City  of  New  York,  on  the  occasion  of  its  seventy- 
first  annual  banquet,  December  22,  1876,  he  responded  as  follows  to  the  toast:  *'  New 
England  Culture — the  Open  Secret  of  Her  Greatness."] 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  :  You  seem  to  have  a  very  frank 
way  of  talking  about  each  other  among  yourselves  here.     I  observe  that 
I  am  the  first  stranger  who  has  crossed  the  river  which,  I  recollect  Edward 
Winslow  says,  divides  the  Continent  of  New  England  from  the  Continent! 
of  America,   and,  as  a  stranger,  it  is  my  pleasure  and  duty  at  onee  to 
express  the  thanks  and  congratulations  of  the  invited  guests  here  for  thej 
distinguished  care  which  has  been  taken  on  this  occasion  outdoors  to  make 
us  feel  entirely  at  home.     As  I  came  down  in  the  snow-storm  I  could  not 
help  feeling  that  Elder  Brewster,  and  William  Bradford,  and  Carver,  anc 
Winslow  could  not  have  done  better  than  this  in  Plymouth  ;  and  indeed,] 
as  I  ate  my  pork  and  beans  just  now,  I  felt  that  the  Gospel  of  New  Eng- 
land is  extending  beyond  the  Connecticut  to  other  nations,  and  that  wjif 


EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE  363 

is  good  to  eat  and  drink  in  Boston,  is  good  to  eat  and  drink  even  here  on 
this  benighted  point  of  Delmonico's. 

When  you  talk  to  us  about  ''culture/'  that  is  rather  a  dangerous 
word.  I  am  always  a  little  afraid  of  the  word  "culture."  I  recollect 
the  very  brightest  squib  that  I  read  in  the  late  election  campaign — and  as 
the  President  says,  gentlemen,  I  am  going  to  respect  the  proprieties  of  the 
occasion.  It  was  sent  to  one  of  the  journals  from  the  Western  Reserve  ; 
and  the  writer,  who,  if  I  have  rightly  guessed  his  name,  is  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  of  our  younger  poets,  was  descanting  on  the  Chinook 
vocabulary,  in  which  a  Chinook  calls  an  Englishman  a  Chinchog  to  this 
day,  in  memory  of  King  George.  And  this  writer  says  that  when  they 
have  a  young  chief  whose  war  paint  is  very  perfect,  whose  blanket  is 
thoroughly  embroidered,  whose  leggings  are  tied  up  with  exactly  the  right 
colors,  and  who  has  the  right  kind  of  star  upon  his  forhead  and  cheeks, 
but  who  never  took  a  scalp,  never  fired  an  arrow,  and  never  smelled  powder, 
but  was  always  found  at  home  whenever  there  was  anything  that  scented  of 
war,  he  says  the  Chinooks  called  that  man  by  the  name  of ' '  Boston  Cultus. ' ' 

Well  now,  gentlemen,  what  are  you  laughing  at  ?  Why  do  you 
laugh  ?  Some  of  you  had  Boston  fathers,  and  more  of  you  had  Boston 
mothers.  Why  do  you  laugh  ?  Ah  !  you  have  seen  these  people,  as  I 
have  seen  them,  as  everybody  has  seen  them — people  who  sat  in  Parker's 
and  discussed  every  movement  of  the  campaign  in  the  late  war,  and  told 
us  that  it  was  all  wrong,  that  we  were  going  to  the  bad,  but  who  never 
shouldered  a  musket.  They  are  people  who  tell  us  that  the  emigration, 
that  the  Pope  of  Rome,  or  the  German  element,  or  the  Irish  element,  is 
going  to  play  the  dogs  with  our  social  system ,  and  yet  they  never  met  an 
emigrant  on  the  wharf  or  had  a  word  of  comfort  to  say  to  a  foreigner. 
We  have  those  people  in  Boston.  You  may  not  have  them  in  New  York, 
and  I  am  very  glad  if  you  have  not ;  but  if  you  are  so  fortunate,  it  is  the 
only  place  on  God's  earth  where  I  have  not  found  such  a  people. 

But  there  is  another  kind  of  culture  which  began  even  before  there 
was  any  Boston — for  there  was  such  a  day  as  that.  There  were  ten  years 
in  the  history  of  this  world,  ten  long  years,  before  Boston  existed,  and 
those  are  the  years  between  Plymouth  Rock  and  the  day  when  some  unfor- 
tunate men,  not  able  to  get  to  Plymouth  Rock,  stopped  and  founded  that 
city.  This  earlier  culture  is  a  culture  not  of  the  school-house,  or  of  the 
tract,  but  a  culture  as  well  of  the  Church,  of  history,  of  the  town-meeting, 
as  John  Adams  says  ;  that  nobler  culture  to  which  my  friend  on  the  right 
has  alluded  when  he  says  that  it  is  born  of  the  Spirit  of  God — the  culture 
which  has  made  New  England,  which  is  born  of  God,  and  which  it  is  our 
mission  to  carry  over  the  world. 


JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL  (J 9894 89 J) 

THE  ROSEA  BIGLOW  OF  ORATORY 


AMONG  American  authors  there  are  none  more  versatile,  none  on 
whose  shoulders  motley  sits  more  gracefully,  than  Lowell,  the 
■^  poet,  essayist,  critic,  and  humorist,  the  man  who  could  be 
everything  for  every  occasion,  who  could  wear  the  cap  and  bells  of  the 
mirth-maker,  flourish  the  sharp  prod  of  the  critic,  bring  sweet  music 
from  the  harp  strings  of  the  poet,  or  walk  with  grave  dignity  in  the 
cloak  of  the  essayist  and  professor.  They  who  love  laughter  cannot 
do  better  than  read  Lowell's  inimitable  "  Biglow  Papers,"  or  take  in 
the  genial  fun  of  his  "  Courtin'.'^  For  the  patrons  of  poetry  he  has 
set  out  many  toothsome  morsels ;  while  in  the  line  of  the  essay  we 
can  name  no  finer  example  of  classical  satire  than  his  ''  On  a  Certain 
Condescension  in  Foreigners." 

Lowell  did  not  confine  himself  to  the  production  of  literature. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  lectured  on  this  subject  at  Harvard,  and 
then  for  other  years  he  edited  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  and  after  that  the 
North  Amencan  Review.  Political  honors  also  came  to  him.  He  wf 
Minister  to  Spain  under  President  Hayes,  and  afterward  Minister 
England,  where  be  made  the  whole  country  his  friend  and  admirei 
As  an  orator  he  distinguished  himself  by  numerous  public  addresses 
which  brought  him  high  praise.  As  an  example  of  his  manner,  w< 
present  a  brief  specimen  of  his  after-dinner  speech-making. 

THE  KINSHIP  OF  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA 

[The  inciting  cause  of  the  following  remarks  was  a  banqnet  to  Henry  Irvinj 
the  celebrated  actor,  at  London,  on  July  4,  1883.     On  this,  the  natal  day  of  the  Unite 
States,  Lowell,  then  Minister  to  England,  represented  and  spoke  for  the  great  Republi^ 
of  the  West.     Among  the  guests  was  Lord  Coleridge,  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  Englam 
himself  a  forceful  speaker,  whom  Lowell  especially  addressed  in  the  following  grac 
ful  fragment  of  social  oratory.] 
364 


JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL  366 

I  may  be  allowed  to  make  one  remark  as  to  a  personal  experience. 
Fortune  has  willed  it  that  I  should  see  as  many — perhaps  more — cities  and 
manners  of  men  as  Ulysses ;  and  I  have  observed  one  general  fact,  and 
that  is,  that  the  adjectival  epithet  which  is  prefixed  to  all  the  virtues  is 
invariably  the  epithet  which  geographically  describes  the  country  that  I 
am  in.  For  instance,  not  to  take  any  real  name,  if  I  am  in  the  kingdom 
of  Lilliput,  I  hear  of  the  Lilliputian  virtues.  I  hear  courage,  I  hear  com- 
mon sense,  and  I  hear  political  wisdom  called  by  that  name.  If  I  cross  to 
the  neighboring  republic  Blefusca — for  since  Swift's  time  it  has  become 
a  republic — I  hear  all  these  virtues  suddenly  qualified  as  Blefuscan. 

I  am  very  glad  to  be  able  to  thank  Lord  Coleridge  for  having,  I 
believe  for  the  first  time,  coupled  the  name  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  with  that  of  her  Majesty  on  an  occasion  like  this.  I  was  struck, 
both  in  what  he  said,  and  in  what  our  distinguished  guest  of  this  evening 
said,  with  the  frequent  recurrence  of  an  adjective  which  is  comparatively 
new — I  mean  the  word  "  English-speaking."  We  continually  hear  now- 
adays of  the  "  English-speaking  race,"  of  the  "  English-speaking  popu- 
lation." I  think  this  implies,  not  that  we  are  to  forget,  not  that  it  would 
be  well  for  us  to  forget,  that  national  emulation  and  that  national  pride 
which  is  implied  in  the  words  "  Englishman  "  and  "  American,"  but  the 
word  implies  that  there  are  certain  perennial  and  abiding  sympathies  between 
all  men  of  a  common  descent  and  a  common  language.  I  am  sure,  my 
lord,  that  all  you  said  with  regard  to  the  welcome  which  our  distinguished 
guest  will  receive  in  America  is  true.  His  eminent  talents  as  an  actor, 
the  dignified — I  may  say  the  illustrious — manner  in  which  he  has  sus- 
tained the  traditions  of  that  succession  of  great  actors  who,  from  the  time 
of  Burbage  to  his  own,  have  illustrated  the  English  stage,  will  be  as  highly 
appreciated  there  as  here. 

And  I  am  sure  that  I  may  also  say  that  the  chief  magistrate  of 
England  will  be  welcomed  by  the  Bar  of  the  United  States,  of  which  I  am 
an  unworthy  member,  and  perhaps  will  be  all  the  more  warmly  welcomed 
that  he  does  not  come  among  them  to  practice.  He  will  find  American 
law  administered — and  I  think  he  will  agree  with  me  in  saying  ably 
administered — by  judges  who,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  sit  without  the  tradi- 
tional wig  of  England.  I  have  heard  since  I  came  here  friends  of  mine 
gravely  lament  this  as  so  serious  an  innovation .  I  answered  with  a  little 
story  which  I  remember  hearing  from  my  father.  He  remembered  the 
last  clergyman  in  New  England  who  still  continued  to  wear  the  wig.  At 
first  it  became  a  singularity  and  at  last  a  monstrosity ;  and  the  good 
doctor  concluded  to  leave  it  off.  But  there  was  one  poor  woman  among  his 
parishioners  who  lamented  this  sadly,  and  waylaying  the  clergyman  as  he 


866  JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL 

came  out  of  churcli  she  said,  "  Oh,  dear  doctor,  I  have  always  listened 
to  your  sermon  with  the  greatest  edification  and  comfort,  but  now  that 
the  wig  is  gone  all  is  gone."  I  have  thought  I  have  seen  some  signs  of 
encouragement  in  the  faces  of  my  English  friends  after  I  have  consoled 
them  with  this  little  story. 

But  I  must  not  allow  myself  to  indulge  in  any  further  remarks.  There 
is  one  virtue,  I  am  sure,  in  after-dinner  oratory,  and  that  is  brevity  ;  and 
as  to  that  I  am  reminded  of  a  story.  The  Lord  Chief  Justice  has  told 
you  what  are  the  ingredients  of  after-dinner  oratory.  They  are  the  joke, 
the  quotation,  and  the  platitude  ;  and  the  successful  platitude,  in  my  judg- 
ment, requires  a  very  high  order  of  genius.  I  believe  that  I  have  not 
given  you  a  quotation,  but  I  am  reminded  of  something  which  I  heard 
when  very  young — the  story  of  a  Methodist  clergyman  in  America.  He 
was  preaching  at  a  camp-meeting,  and  he  was  preaching  upon  the  miracle 
of  Joshua,  and  he  began  his  sermon  with  this  sentence  :  "  My  hearers, 
there  are  three  motions  of  the  sun.  The  first  is  the  straightforward  or 
direct  motion  of  the  sun  ;  the  second  is  the  retrograde  or  backward 
motion  of  the  sun  ;  the  third  is  the  motion  mentioned  in  our  text — *  the 
sun  stood  still.'  " 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  don't  know  whether  you  seethe  application  of  the 
storj' — I  hope  you  do.  The  after-dinner  orator  at  first  begins  and  goes 
straight  forward — that  is  the  straightforward  motion  of  the  sun .  Next  he 
goes  back  and  begins  to  repeat  himself — that  is  the  backward  motion  of 
the  sun.  At  last  he  has  the  good  sense  to  bring  himself  to  the  end,  and 
that  is  the  motion  mentioned  in  our  text,  as  the  sun  stood  still. 


FITZHUGH  LEE  (J835- 

A  SOLDIER  ON  THE  FORUM 


aMONG  the  men  who  have  bravely  upheld  the  dignity  of  the 
United  States  under  trying  circumstances  we  must  name 
General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  who  was  United  States  Consul  at 
Havana  during  the  period  preceding  the  Spanish  War,  and  in  whose 
hands — ex-Confederate  that  he  was — the  honor  of  the  old  flag  proved 
safe.  Grandson  of  one  of  the  soldier  heroes  of  the  Revolution,  and 
nephew  of  the  soldier  hero  of  the  South  in  the  Civil  War,  the  part 
played  by  himself  as  a  cavalry  leader  in  the  Confederate  ranks  was 
no  unimportant  one,  he  being  chief  in  command  of  the  cavalry  of  the 
army  in  Virginia  at  the  end  of  the  war.  During  the  years  of  peace 
that  followed,  General  Lee  was  called  upon  to  fill  important  posts. 
In  1886,  Virginia  chose  him  for  her  Governor.  From  1893  to  1898 
he  served  as  Consul-General  at  Havana,  and  he  was  a  Major-General 
of  Volunteers  in  the  war  with  Spain.  He  subsequently,  for  a  time, 
held  the  post  of  Military-Governor  of  the  Province  of  Havana,  con- 
trolling with  firm  hand  the  excited  patriots  of  Cuba  litre  during  the 
early  days  of  their  new  importance  as  citizens  of  an  independent 
nationality.  His  popularity  in  his  own  State  as  well  as  throughout 
the  country  calls  for  his  services  on  many  social  and  public  occasions. 

HARMONY  UNDER  THE  OLD  FLAG 

[During  the  splendid  celebration  at  Philadelphia  in  I887  of  the  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  one  of  the  great  historical  events  of 
which  the  Quaker  City  was  the  seat,  Governor  Lee  was  present  as  the  principal  repre- 
sentative of  the  Old  Dominion.  During  his  visit  he  attended,  as  the  guest  of  Gov- 
ernor Beaver,  of  Pennsylvania,  a  dinner  given  by  the  Friendly  Sons  of  St.  Patrick  and 
the  Hibernian  Society  of  Philadelphia.  The  distinguished  guest  was  naturally  called 
upon  to  address  the  convivial  assembly.  He  did  so  in  words  of  admirable  good  fellow- 
8hip.] 

367 


368  fitzhugh  lee 

Mr.  Chairman,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Hibernian  Society  : — 
I  am  very  glad,  indeed,  to  have  the  honor  of  being  present  in  this  Society 
once  more  ;  as  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  enjoy  a  most  pleasant  visit  here 
and  an  acquaintance  with  the  members  of  your  Society  last  year.  My 
engagements  were  such  to-day  that  I  could  not  get  here  earlier ;  and  just 
as  I  was  coming  in  Governor  Beaver  was  making  his  excuses  because,  as 
he  said,  he  had  to  go  to  pick  up  a  visitor  whom  he  was  to  escort  to  the 
entertainment  to  be  given  this  evening  at  the  Academy  of  Music.  I  am 
the  visitor  whom  Governor  Beaver  is  looking  for.  He  could  not  capture 
me  during  the  war,  but  he -has  captured  me  now.  I  am  a  Virginian 
and  used  to  ride  a  pretty  fast  horse,  and  he  could  not  get  close  enough 
to  me. 

By  the  way,  you  have  all  heard  of  "  George  Washington  and  his 
little  hatchet."     The  other  day  I  heard  a  story  that  was  a  little  variation 
upon  the  original,  and  I  am  going  to  take  up  your  time  for  a  minute  by 
repeating  it  to  you.     It  was  to  this  effect  :  Old  Mr.  Washington  and  Mrs. 
Washington,  the  parents  of  George,  found  on  one  occasion  that  their 
supply  of  soap  for  the  use  of  the   family   at   Westmoreland   had   been 
exhausted,  and  so  they  decided  to  make  some  family  soap.     They  made 
the  necessary  arrangements  and  gave  the  requisite  instructions  to  the 
family  servant.     After  an  hour  or  so  the  servant  returned  and  reported  tc 
them  that  he  could  not  make  that  soap.     "Why  not,"  he  was  asked,] 
''haven't  you  all  the  materials?"     "Yes,"   he  replied,   "but  there  ij 
something  wrong."     The  old  folks  proceeded   to  investigate,  and  the} 
found  they  had  actually  got  the  ashes  of  the  little  cherry  tree  that  Georj 
had  cut  down  with  his  hatchet,  and  there  was  no  lye  in  it. 

Now,  I  assure  you,  there  is  no  "  lie  "  in  what  I  say  to  you  this 
afternoon,  and  that  is,  that  I  thank  God  for  the  sun  of  the  Union  which, 
once  obscured,  is  now  again  in  the  full  stage  of  its  glory ;  and  that  it 
light  is  shining  over  Virginia  as  well  as  over  the  rest  of  the  country.     We 
have  had  our  differences.     I  do  not  see,  upon  reading  history,  how  they] 
could  well  have  been  avoided,  because  they  resulted  from  different  con- 
structions of  the  Constitution,   which  was  the  helm  of  the  ship  of  the! 
Republic.     Virginia  construed  it  one  way,  Pennsylvania  construed  it  in^ 
an  other,  and  they  could  not  settle  their  differences  ;  so  they  went  to  war, 
and  Pennsylvania,  I  think,  probably  got  a  little  the  best  of  it. 

The  sword,  at  any  rate,  settled  the  controversy.  But  that  is  behinc 
us.  We  have  now  a  great  and  glorious  future  in  front  of  us,  and  it  is 
Virginia's  duty  to  do  all  that  she  can  to  promote  the  honor  and  glory  of 
this  country.  We  fought  to  the  best  of  our  ability  for  four  years  ;  and  it 
would  be  a  great  mistake  to  assume  that  you  could  bring  men  from  their 


I 


FITZHUGH  LEE  369 

cabins,  from  their  ploughs,  from  their  houses  and  from  their  families  to 
make  them  fight  as  they  fought  in  that  contest  unless  they  were  fighting 
for  a  belief.  Those  men  believed  that  they  had  the  right  construction  of 
the  Constitution,  and  that  a  State  that  voluntarily  entered  the  Union  could 
voluntarily  withdraw  from  it.  They  did  not  fight  for  Confederate  money. 
It  was  not  worth  ten  cents  a  yard.  They  did  not  fight  for  Confederate 
rations  ;  you  would  have  had  to  curtail  the  demands  of  your  appetite  to 
make  it  correspond  with  the  size  and  quality  of  those  rations.  They 
fought  for  what  they  thought  was  a  proper  construction  of  the  Constitu- 
tion. They  were  defeated.  They  acknowledged  their  defeat.  They 
came  back  to  their  father's  house,  and  there  they  are  going  to  stay.  But 
if  we  are  to  continue  prosperous,  if  this  country,  stretching  from  the  Gulf 
to  the  lakes,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean,  is  to  be  mindful  of  its  best  inter- 
ests in  the  future,  we  will  have  to  make  concessions  and  compliances,  we 
will  have  to  bear  with  each  other  and  to  respect  each  other's  opinions. 
Then  we  will  find  that  that  harmony  will  be  secured  which  is  as  neces- 
sary for  the  welfare  of  the  States  as  it  is  for  the  welfare  of  individuals. 

I  have  become  acquainted  with  Governor  Beaver — I  met  him  in 
Richmond.  You  could  not  make  me  fight  him  now.  If  I  had  known 
him  before  the  war,  perhaps  we  would  not  have  got  at  it.  If  all  the  Gov- 
ernors had  known  each  other,  and  if  all  the  people  of  different  sections  had 
been  known  to  each  other,  or  had  been  thrown  together  in  business  or 
social  communication,  the  fact  would  have  been  recognized  at  the  outset, 
as  it  is  to-day,  that  there  are  just  as  good  men  in  Maine  as  there  are  in 
Texas,  and  just  as  good  men  in  Texas  as  there  are  in  Maine.  Human 
nature  is  everywhere  the  same  ;  and  when  intestine  strifes  occur  we  shall 
doubtless  always  be  able  by  a  conservative,  pacific  course  to  pass  smoothly 
over  the  rugged,  rocky  edges,  and  the  old  Ship  of  State  will  be  brought 
into  a  safe,  commodious.  Constitutional  harbor  with  the  flag  of  the  Union 
flying  over  her,  and  there  it  will  remain. 


24 


SAMUEL  L.  CLEMENS  (J 835 ) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  LAUGHTER 


a  NY  man  who  attempts  to  introduce  "  Mark  Twain "  to  an 
American  audience  might  as  well  write  himself  down  as  a 
promising  candidate  for  a  lunatic  asylum.  Everybody  knows 
the  genial  "Mark," — that  is,  everybody  who  reads  and  has  been 
blessed  by  mother  Nature  with  an  appreciative  taste  for  humor.  His 
books,  from  "  The  Innocents  Abroad  "  to  the  latest  contribution  to  the 
literature  of  mirth,  lie  on  a  myriad  tables  in  our  land,  and  have 
elicited  enough  laughter  to  lift  the  dome  of  the  Capitol.  Mr.  Clemens, 
born  in  Missouri,  was  in  his  early  life  a  printer,  a  Mississippi  steam- 
boat pilot,  and  secretary  to  his  brother,  who  was  Secretary  of  Nevada 
Territory.  His  later  life  has  been  passed  in  authorship,  with  inter- 
missions devoted  to  lecturing,  in  which  his  ample  vein  of  humor 
breaks  prominently  out.     We  append  a  brief  example  of  his  method. 

UNCONSaOUS  PLAGIARISM 
[**  Mark  Twain  "  has  frequentiy  made  his  mark  as  an  after-dinner  orator.  One 
of  his  efforts  was  at  a  dinner  given  by  the  publishers  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly  to  Dr. 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  in  recognition  of  his  seventieth  birthday.  The  remarks  of 
Mr.  Clemens  on  this  occasion  formed  a  good  example  of  his  genial  wit  and  humor, 
and  are  well  worth  reproducing.] 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gbnti.emen  : — I  would  have  traveled 
a  much  greater  distance  than  I  have  come  to  witness  the  paying  of  honors 
to  Dr.  Holmes  ;  for  my  feeling  towards  him  has  always  been  one  of  peculiar 
warmth.  When  one  receives  a  letter  from  a  great  man  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life,  it  is  a  large  event  to  him,  as  all  of  you  know  by  your  own  exper-, 
ience.  You  never  can  receive  letters  enough  from  famous  men  after  ware 
to  obliterate  that  one,  or  dim  the  memory  of  the  pleasant  surprise  it  was^ 
and  the  gratification  it  gave  you.  Lapse  of  time  cannot  make  it  common- 
place or  cheap. 
870 


SAMUEL  L.  CLEMENS  371 

Well,  the  first  great  man  who  ever  wrote  me  a  letter  was  our  guest — 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes.  He  was  also  the  first  great  literary  man  I  ever 
stole  anything  from,  and  that  is  how  I  came  to  write  to  him  and  he  to  me. 
When  my  first  book  was  new,  a  friend  of  mine  said  to  me,  "  The  dedica- 
tion is  very  neat."  Yes,  I  said,  I  thought  it  was.  My  friend  said  :  **  I 
always  admired  it,  even  before  I  saw  it  in  the  *  Innocents  Abroad  '."  I 
naturally  said,  ' '  What  do  you  mean  ?  Where  did  you  ever  see  it  before  ?" 
''Well,  I  saw  it  first  some  years  ago  as  Dr.  Holmes'  dedication  to  his 
'Songs  in  Many  Keys.'  "  Of  course,  my  first  impulse  was  to  prepare 
this  man's  remains  for  burial,  but  upon  reflection  I  said  I  would  reprieve 
him  for  a  moment  or  two,  and  give  him  a  chance  to  prove  his  assertion 
if  he  could.  We  stepped  into  a  bookstore  and  he  did  prove  it.  I  had 
really  stolen  that  dedication,  almost  word  for  word.  I  could  not  imagine 
how  this  curious  thing  had  happened  ;  for  I  knew  one  thing, — that  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  pride  always  goes  along  with  a  teaspoonful  of  brains,  and 
that  this  pride  protects  a  man  from  deliberately  stealing  other  people's 
ideas.  That  is  what  a  teaspoonful  of  brains  will  do  for  a  man; — and 
admirers  had  often  told  me  I  had  nearly  a  basketful,  though  they  were 
rather  reserved  as  to  the  size  of  the  basket. 

However,  I  thought  the  thing  out  and  solved  the  mystery.  Two 
years  before  I  had  been  laid  up  a  couple  of  weeks  in  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  and  had  read  and  re-read  Dr.  Holmes'  poems  till  my  mental 
reservoir  was  filled  up  with  them  to  the  brim.  The  dedication  lay  on  the 
top  and  handy,  so,  by  and  by,  I  unconsciously  stole  it.  Perhaps  I  uncon- 
sciously stole  the  rest  of  the  volume,  too,  for  many  people  have  told  me  that 
my  book  was  pretty  poetical,  in  one  way  or  another.  Well,  of  course, 
I  wrote  Dr.  Holmes  and  told  him  I  hadn't  meant  to  steal,  and  he  wrote 
back  and  said  in  the  kindest  way  that  it  was  all  right  and  no  harm  done  ; 
and  added  that  he  believed  we  all  unconsciously  worked  over  ideas  gath- 
ered in  reading  and  hearing,  imagining  they  were  original  with  ourselves. 
He  stated  a  truth,  and  did  it  in  such  a  pleasant  way,  and  salved  over  my 
sore  spot  so  gently  and  so  healingly,  that  I  was  rather  glad  I  had  com- 
mitted the  crime,  for  the  sake  of  the  letter.  I  afterward  called  on  him 
and  told  him  to  make  perfectly  free  with  any  ideas  of  mine  that  struck 
him  as  being  good  protoplasm  for  poetry.  He  could  see  by  that  that 
there  wasn't  anything  mean  about  me;  so  we  got  along  right  from  the 
start.  I  have  not  met  Dr.  Holmes  many  times  since  ;  and  lately  he  said 
— however,  I  am  wandering  wildly  away  from  the  one  thing  which  I  got 
on  my  feet  to  do ;  that  is,  to  make  my  compliments  to  you,  my  fellow- 
teachers  of  the  great  public,  and  likewise  to  say  I  am  right  glad  to  see 
that  Dr.  Holmes  is  still  in  his  prime  and  full  of  generous  life  ;  and  as  age 


372  SAMUEL  L.  CLEMENS 

is  not  determined  by  years,  but  by  trouble  and  infirmities  of  mind  and 
body,  I  hope  it  may  be  a  very  long  time  yet  before  any  one  can  truthfully 
say,  "He  is  growing  old/' 

THE  DRESS  OF  CIVILIZED  WOMAN 

A  large  part  of  the  daughter  of  civilization  is  her  dress — as  it  should 
be.  Some  civilized  women  would  lose  half  their  charm  without  dress ; 
and  some  would  lose  all  of  it.  The  daughter  of  modern  civilization 
dressed  at  her  utmost  best  is  a  marvel  of  exquisite  and  beautiful  art  and 
expense.  All  the  lands,  all  the  climes,  and  all  the  arts  are  laid  under 
tribute  to  furnish  her  forth.  Her  linen  is  from  Belfast,  her  robe  is  from 
Paris,  her  lace  is  from  Venice,  or  Spain,  or  France,  her  feathers  are  from 
the  remote  regions  of  Southern  Africa,  her  furs  from  the  remoter  region 
of  the  iceberg  and  the  aurora,  her  fan  from  Japan,  her  diamonds  from 
Brazil,  her  bracelets  from  California,  her  pearls  from  Ceylon,  her  cameos 
from  Rome.  She  has  gems  and  trinkets  from  buried  Pompeii,  and  others 
that  graced  comely  Egyptian  forms  that  have  been  dust  and  ashes  now  for 
forty  centuries.  Her  watch  is  from  Geneva,  her  card-case  is  from  China, 
her  hair  is  from — from — I  don't  know  where  her  hair  is  from ;  I  never 
could  find  out.  That  is,  her  other  hair — her  public  hair,  her  Sunday  hair  ; 
I  don't  mean  the  hair  she  goes  to  bed  with  .... 

And  that  reminds  me  of  a  trifle  ;  any  time  you  want  to  you  can  glance 
round  the  carpet  of  a  Pullman  car,  and  go  and  pick  up  a  hairpin  ;  but 
not  to  save  your  life  can  you  get  any  woman  in  that  car  to  acknowledge 
that  hairpin.  Now,  isn't  that  strange  !  But  it's  true.  The  woman  who 
has  never  swerved  from  cast-iron  veracity  and  fidelity  in  her  whole  life 
will,  when  confronted  with  this  crucial  test,  deny  her  hairpin.  She  will 
deny  that  hairpin  before  a  hundred  witnesses.  I  have  stupidly  got  into 
more  trouble  and  more  hot  water  trying  to  hunt  up  the  owner  of  a  hair- 
pin in  a  Pullman  than  by  any  other  indiscretion  of  my  life. 


N 


HORACE  PORTER  (J837  — 

A  BRILLIANT  AFTER-DINNER  SPEAKER 


|ENERAL  HORACE  PORTER  was  well  qualified  from  personal 
experience  to  describe  the  stirring  events  of  war  times  under 
Grant,  for  he  served  as  Brigadier-General  under  that  famous 
commander  during  the  Civil  War,  and  came  very  near  to  him  as  his 
private  secretary  durmg  the  eight  years  of  his  Presidency.  A  gradu- 
ate of  West  Point  in  1860,  General  Porter  served  in  the  field  through- 
out the  Civil  War,  holding  in  succession  every  commissioned  grade 
up  to  that  of  Brigadier-General.  In  1897  he  was  appointed  United 
States  Ambassador  to  France  by  President  McKinley,  holding  this 
important  diplomatic  post  throughout  McKinley's  term  and  continuing 
to  represent  this  country  at  the  French  court  under  President  Roosevelt. 
He  has  been  prominent  in  business,  being  president  of  several  railroad 
corporations.  As  an  orator  General  Portei;  delivered  the  address  at  the 
Grant  memorial  ceremonies,  and  at  the  inauguration  of  the  Washing- 
ton Arch  at  New  York,  in  1897.  He  is  especially  capable  in  after- 
dinner  speech-making,  his  rich  vein  of  humor  causing  him  to  be  often 
called  upon  to  respond  on  such  occasions  of  festivity. 

THE  HUMOR  AND  PATHOS  OF  LINCOLN^S  LIFE 

[At  the  dinner  given  by  the  Republican  Club  of  New  York  City  on  the  nine- 
tieth anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  February  12,  1889,  General  Porter 
responded  gracefully  to  the  toast,  "  Abraham  Lincoln — the  fragrant  memory  of  such  a 
life  will  increase  as  the  generations  succeed  each  other."  In  Porter's  remarks  two 
phases  of  Lincoln's  character  were  prominently  brought  out,  his  fondness  for  humor- 
ous story-telling  and  the  innate  sadness  of  his  later  career.  General  Porter  is  best 
known  as  a  fluent  source  of  amusing  oratory  ;  but  in  the  remarks  subjoined  he  shows 
that  he  is  master  of  the  element  of  pathos  as  well.] 

V 

I  fear  your  committee  is  treating  me  like  one  of  those  toy  balloons 
that  are  sent  up  previous  to  the  main  ascension,  to  test  the  currents  of  the 

273 


374  HORACE  PORTER 

air  ;  but  I  hope  that  in  this  sort  of  ballooning  I  may  not  be  interruped  by 
the  remark  that  interrupted  a  Fourth  of  July  orator  in  the  West  when  he 
was  tickling  the  American  eagle  under  both  wings,  delivering  himself  of 
no  end  of  platitudes  and  soaring  aloft  into  the  brilliant  realms  of  fancy, 
when  a  man  in  the  audience  quietly  remarked  :  "  If  he  goes  on  throwing 
out  his  ballast  in  that  way,  the  Lord  knows  where  he  will  land."  If  I 
demonstrate  to-night  that  dryness  is  a  quality  not  only  of  the  champagne 
but  of  the  first  speech  as  well,  you  may  reflect  on  that  remark  as  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  did  at  City  Point  after  he  had  been  shaken  up  the  night 
before  in  his  boat  in  a  storm  in  Chesapeake  Bay.  When  he  complained 
of  the  feeling  of  gastronomic  uncertainty  which  we  suffer  on  the  water,  a 
young  staff  officer  rushed  up  to  him  with  a  bottle  of  champagne  and  said : 
**  This  is  the  cure  for  that  sort  of  an  ill."  Said  the  President :  "  No, 
young  man,  I  have  seen  too  many  fellows  seasick  ashore  from  drinking 
that  very  article." 

The  story  of  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln  savors  more  of  romance 
than  reality.  It  is  more  like  a  fable  of  the  ancient  days  than  a  story  of  a 
plain  American  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  singular  vicissitudes  in 
the  life  of  our  martyred  President  surround  him  with  an  interest  which 
attaches  to  few  men  in  history.  He  sprang  from  that  class  which  he 
always  alluded  to  as  the  ''  plain  people,"  and  never  attempted  to  disdain 
them.  He  believed  that  the  government  was  made  for  the  people,  not  the 
people  for  the  government.  He  felt  that  true  republicanism  is  a  torch — 
the  more  it  is  shaken  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  the  brighter  it  will  burn. 
He  was  transcendently  fit  to  be  the  first  successful  standard-bearer  of 
the  progressive,  aggressive,  invincible  Republican  party.  He  might  well 
have  said  to  those  who  chose  to  sneer  at  his  humble  origin,  what  a  mar- 
shal of  France  raised  from  the  ranks  said  to  the  haughty  nobles  of  Vienna 
boasting  of  their  long  line  of  descent,  when  they  refused  to  associate  with 
him  :  * '  I  am  an  ancestor  ;  you  are  only  descendants  !  ' '  He  was  never 
guilty  of  any  posing  for  effect,  any  attitudinizing  in  public,  any  mawkish 
sentimentality,  any  of  the  puppyism  so  often  bred  by  power,  that  dogmat- 
ism which  Johnson  said  was  only  puppyism  grown  to  maturity.  He 
made  no  claim  to  knowledge  he  did  not  possess.  He  felt  with  Addison 
that  pedantry  and  learning  are  like  hypocrisy  in  religion — the  form  of 
knowledge  without  the  power  of  it.  He  had  nothing  in  common  with  those 
men  of  mental  malformation  who  are  educated  beyond  their  intellects. 

The  names  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  are  inseparably  associated, 
and  yet,  as  the  popular  historian  would  have  us  believe,  one  spent  hiSi 
entire  life  in  chopping  down  acorn  trees  and  the  other  in  splitting  them  up. 
into  rails.     Washington  could  not  tell  a  story.     Lincoln  always  could. 


HORACE   PORTER  375 

And  Lincoln's  stories  alwaj^s  possessed  the  true  geometrical  requisites, 
they  were  never  too  long,  and  never  too  broad.  He  never  forgot  a  point. 
A  sentinel  pacing  near  the  watchfire  while  Lincoln  was  once  telling  some 
stories  quietly  remarked  that,  ' '  He  had  a  mighty  powerful  memory,  but 
an  awful  poor  forgettery."  .... 

But  his  heart  was  not  always  attuned  to  mirth  ;  its  chords  were  often 
set  to  strains  of  sadness.  Yet  throughout  all  his  trials  he  never  lost  the 
courage  of  his  convictions.  When  he  was  surrounded  on  all  sides  by 
doubting  Thomases,  by  unbelieving  Saracens,  by  discontented  Catilines, 
his  faith  was  strongest.  As  the  Danes  destroyed  the  hearing  of  their  war- 
horses  in  order  that  they  might  not  be  affrighted  by  the  din  of  the  battle, 
so  Lincoln  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  that  might  have  discouraged  him,  and 
exhibited  an  unwavering  faith  in  the  justice  of  the  cause  and  the  integrity 
of  the  Union. 

It  is  said  that  for  three  hundred  years  after  the  battle  of  Thermopylae 
every  child  in  the  public  schools  of  Greece  was  required  to  recite  from 
memory  the  names  of  the  three  hundred  martyrs  who  fell  in  the  defence  of 
that  Pass.  It  would  be  a  crowning  triumph  in  patriotic  education  if  every 
school  child  in  America  could  contemplate  each  day  the  grand  character 
and  utter  the  inspiring  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

He  has  passed  from  our  view.  We  shall  not  meet  him  again  until  he 
stands  forth  to  answer  to  his  name  at  the  roll-call  when  the  great  of  earth 
are  summoned  in  the  morning  of  the  last  great  reveille.  Till  then  [apos- 
trophizing Lincoln's  portrait  which  hung  above  the  President's  head],  till 
then,  farewell,  gentlest  of  spirits,  noblest  of  all  hearts  !  The  child's 
simplicity  was  mingled  with  the  majestic  grandeur  of  your  nature.  You 
have  handed  down  unto  a  grateful  people  the  richest  legacy  which  man 
can  leave  to  man — the  memory  of  a  good  name,  the  inheritance  of  a  great 
example. 


JOSEPH  JEFFERSON  (1829 ) 

THE  RIP  VAN  WINKLE  OF  DRAMATIC  ORATORY 


rOR  many  decades  of  the  past  the  lovers  of  the  theatre  have 
feasted  full  on  one  oft  served  repast,  Jefferson's  "  Rip  Van 
""^  Winkle,"  which  is  growing  to  be  a  tradition  even  while  it 
remains  a  living  tenant  of  the  stage.  Jefferson  has  so  thoroughly 
identified  himself  with  "  Old  Rip  "  that  the  two  have  fairly  become 
one.  He  is  growing  especially  like  him  in  one  particular,  old  age  is 
classing  him  among  its  veterans  ;  but  he  is  unlike  him  in  another,  he 
has  not  slept  away  his  years.  In  fact,  no  man  has  kept  more  vitally 
alive  and  more  fully  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  than  Joseph  Jefferson. 
He  is  protean  in  his  changes.  We  see  him  now  as  "Rip,"  again  as 
"  Bob  Eccles,"  next  in  some  other  form  ;  but  in  none  of  them  does  he 
obliterate  himself.  Through  all  these  variations  something  of  the 
genial-hearted  Joe  Jefferson  shows  out.  Born  of  a  family  of  actors, 
he  came  to  his  profession  by  hereditary  right,  and  has  abundantly 
proved  his  claim  to  fill  the  throne  of  his  father. 

MY  FARM  IN  JERSEY 
[Jefferson  is  not  confined  in  his  powers  to  repeating  the  words  of  others,  but 
can  speak  effectively  for  himself.     And  as  a  comedian,  he  has  naturally  a  sense  of 
humor.     As  evidence  of  this  we  present  the  closing  portion  of  his  remarks  made  at 
the  tenth  annual  dinner  of  the  Author's  Club,  New  York,  February  28,  1893.] 

It  is  curious  that  there  is  one  path  in  which  the  actor  always  wanders 
— he  always  likes  to  be  land-owner.  It  is  a  curious  thing  that  the  actors 
of  England — of  course  in  the  olden  times  you  must  remember  that  we  had 
none  but  English  actors  in  this  country, — as  soon  as  they  came  here,  they 
wanted  to  own  land.  They  could  not  do  it  in  England.  The  elder  Booth 
owned  a  farm  at  Bellaire.  Thomas  Cooper,  the  celebrated  English  trageg 
dian,  bought  a  farm  near  Philadelphia,  and  it  is  a  positive  fact  that  he  ij 
the  first  man  who  ever  owned  a  fast  trotting  horse  in  America.  He  us 
376 


JOSEPH  JEFFERSON  877 

to  drive  from  the  farm  to  rehearsal  at  the  theatre,  and  I  believe  has  been 
known,  when  in  convivial  company,  even  to  drive  out  at  night  afterwards. 
Following  and  emulating  the  example  of  my  illustrious  predecessors  I 
became  a  farmer. 

I  will  not  allude  to  my  plantation  in  Louisiana  ;  my  overseer  takes 
care  of  that.  I  have  not  heard  from  him  lately,  but  I  am  told  he  takes 
very  good  care  of  it.  I  trust  there  was  no  expression  of  distrust  on  my 
part.  But  I  allude  to  my  farm  in  New  Jersey.  I  have  not  been  so  suc- 
cessful as  Mr.  Burroughs,  but  I  was  attracted  by  a  tov/nsmanand  I  bought 
a  farm  in  New  Jersey.  I  went  out  first  to  examine  the  soil.  I  told  the 
honest  farmer  who  was  about  to  sell,  me  this  place  that  I  thought  the  soil 
looked  rather  thin  ;  there  was  a  good  deal  of  gravel.  He  told  me  that 
the  gravel  was  the  finest  thing  for  drainage  in  the  world.  I  told  him  I 
had  heard  that,  but  I  had  always  presumed  that  if  the  gravel  was  under- 
neath it  would  answer  the  purpose  better.  He  said  :  "  Not  at  all ;  this 
soil  is  of  that  character  it  will  drain  both  ways,"  by  what  he  termed  I  think 
caterpillary  attraction. 

I  bought  the  farm  and  set  myself  to  work  to  increase  the  breadth  of  my 
shoulders,  to  help  my  appetite,  and  so  forth,  about  the  work  of  a  farm.  I 
even  went  so  far  as  to  emulate  the  example  set  by  Mr.  Burroughs,  and 
split  the  wood.  I  did  not  succeed  in  that.  Of  course,  as  Mr.  Burroughs 
wisely  remarks,  the  heat  comes  at  both  ends  ;  it  comes  when  you  split  the 
wood  and  again  when  you  burn  it.  But  as  I  only  lived  at  my  farm  during 
the  summer  time,  it  became  quite  unnecessary  in  New  Jersey  to  split  wood 
in  July,  and  my  farming  operations  were  not  successful. 

We  bought  an  immense  quantity  of  chickens  and  they  all  turned  out 
to  be  roosters  ;  but  I  resolved — I  presume  as  William  Nye  says  about  the 
farm — to  carry  it  on  ;  I  would  carry  on  that  farm  as  long  as  my  wife's 
money  lasted.  A  great  mishap  was  when  my  Alderney  bull  got  into  the 
greenhouse.  There  was  nothing  to  stop  him  but  the  cactus.  He 
tossed  the  flower-pots  right  and  left.  Talk  about  the  flowers  that 
bloom  in  the  spring, — why  I  never  saw  such  a  wreck,  and  I  am 
fully  convinced  that  there  is  nothing  that  will  stop  a  thoroughly  well- 
bred  bull  but  a  full-bred  South  American  cactus.  I  went  down  to  look 
at  the  ruins  and  the  devastation  that  this  animal  had  made,  and  I  found 
him  quietly  eating  black  Hamburg  grapes.  I  don't  know  anything  finer 
than  black  Hamburg  grapes  for  Alderney  bulls.  A  friend  of  mine,  who 
was  chafiing  me  for  my  farming  proclivities,  said  :  "  I  see  you  have  got 
in  some  confusion  here.  It  looks  to  me  from  seeing  that  gentleman  there 
— that  stranger  in  the  greenhouse — that  you  are  trying  to  raise  early  bulls 
under  glass." 


CHARLES  EMORY  SMITH  (J 842 

EDITOR,  CABINET  OFFICER  AND  ORATOR 


mHE  distinguished  member  of  President  McKinley's  Cabinet 
with  whom  we  have  now  to  deal,  has  kept  himself  long  and 
fully  in  the  public  eye,  alike  as  journalist,  as  diplomat,  and  as 
Cabinet  official.  A  native  of  Connecticut,  he  was  an  editor  in  Albany 
for  the  fifteen  years  from  1865  to  1880,  and  since  the  latter  date  has 
been  the  ruling  spirit  of  the  Philadelphia  Press,  the  oldest  and  ablest 
exponent  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  Quaker  City.  In  his  diplo- 
matic service  Mr.  Smith  was  Minister  to  Russia  1890-92.  In  1898  he 
was  appointed  Postmaster-General,  resigning  in  1902,  in  consequence 
of  the  demands  of  his  editorial  duties.  As  a  Cabinet  officer  he  won 
high  praise  for  the  merited  efficiency  of  the  postal  service.  The  free 
rural  delivery  was  developed  during  his  administration  of  the  postoffice 
department.  Mr.  Smith  is  ready  and  capable  as  an  orator,  alike  on 
social  occasions  and  in  cases  of  graver  demands. 

THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS 

[Mr.  Smith   can,  on  occasion,  be  very  amusing  as  an   after-dinner  orator,  as 
evidence    of  which  we  make   the   following    selection   from   his    remarks   at   the 
thirteenth  annual  dinner — in  1893 — of  the  New  England  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  of 
which  he  was  then  the  president.     He   very  neatly  contrasts  the  hardships  of  the        \ 
Pilgrim  Father  and  the  modern  legislator.]  j 

If  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  were  not  the  sweetest  warblers,  they  at  least 
never  wobbled.     They  always  went  direct  to  their  mark.     As  Kmersoi^| 
said  of  Napoleon,  they  would  shorten  a  straight  line  to  get  at  a  point.™! 
They  faced  the  terrors  of  the  New  England  northeast  blast  and  starved  in 
the  wilderness  in  order  that  we  might  live  in  freedom.     We  have  literally 
turned  the  tables  on  them,  and  patiently  endure  the  trying  hardships  of^ 
this  festive  board  in  order  that  their  memories  may  not  die  in  forgetfulnessj 
378 


I 


CHARLES  EMORY  SMITH  379 

We  can  never  forget  the  hardships  which  they  were  forced  to  endure, 
but  at  the  same  time  we  must  recognize  that  they  had  some  advantages 
over  us.  They  escaped  some  of  the  inflictions  to  which  we  have  been 
compelled  to  submit.  They  braved  the  wintry  blast  of  Plymouth,  but 
they  never  knew  the  everlasting  wind  of  the  United  States  Senate.  They 
slumbered  under  the  long  sermons  of  Cotton  Mather,  but  they  never 
dreamed  of  the  fourteen  consecutive  hours  of  Nebraska  Allen  or  Nevada 
Stewart.  They  battled  with  Armenian  dogmas  and  Antinomian  heresies, 
but  they  never  experienced  the  exhilarating  delights  of  the  Silver  debate 
or  throbbed  under  the  rapturous  and  tumultuous  emotions  of  a  Tariff 
Schedule. 

They  had  their  days  of  festivity.  They  observed  the  annual  day 
of  Thanksgiving  with  a  reverent,  and  not  infrequently  with  a  jocund, 
spirit ;  but  advanced  as  they  were  in  many  respects,  they  never  reached 
that  sublime  moral  elevation  and  that  high  state  of  civilization  which 
enable  us  in  our  day  to  see  that  the  only  true  way  to  observe  Thanksgiving 
is  to  shut  up  the  churches  and  revel  in  the  spiritual  glories  of  the  flying 
wedge  and  the  triumphal  touchdown.  Their  calendar  had  three  great 
red-letter  days  of  celebration  :  Commencement  day,  which  expressed  and 
emphasized  the  foremost  place  they  gave  to  education  in  their  civil  and 
religious  polity  ;  Training  or  Muster  day,  which  illustrated  the  spirit  and 
the  skill  which  gave  them  victory  over  the  Indians  and  made  them  stand 
undaunted  on  Bunker  Hill  under  Warren  and  Putnam  until  above  the 
gleaming  column  of  red-coats  they  could  look  into  the  whites  of  the 
enemies'  eyes  ;  and  Election  day,  upon  which,  with  its  election  sermon 
and  its  solemn  choice  of  rulers,  they  acted  out  their  high  sense  of  patriotic 
duty  to  the  Commonwealth. 

We  are  deeply  concerned  in  these  days  about  the  debasement  of  the 
ballot-box.  Perhaps  we  could  find  a  panacea  in  the  practice  of  our 
Pilgrim  Fathers.  They  enacted  a  law  that  the  right  of  suffrage  should  be 
limited  to  church  members  in  good  standing.  Suppose  we  had  such  a 
law  now,  what  a  mighty  revolution  it  would  work  either  in  exterminating 
fraud  or  in  promoting  piety  !  *  *  Men  and  Brethren  !  ' '  said  the  colored 
parson,  "  two  ways  are  open  before  you,  the  broad  and  narrow  way  which 
leads  to  perdition,  and  the  straight  and  crooked  way  which  leads  to  dam- 
nation." We  have  before  us  now  the  two  ways  of  stuffed  ballot-boxes 
and  empty  pews,  and  our  plan  is  to  change  the  stuffing  from  the  ballot- 
boxes  to  the  pews.  I  am  not  altogether  sure  which  result  would  be 
accomplished  ;  but  it  is  quite  clear  that  if  the  law  of  our  Fathers  did  not 
destroy  corruption  in  politics,  it  would  at  least  kindle  a  fresh  interest  in 
the  church. 


JOSEPH  B.  COGHLAN  (J 844 ) 

AN  ORATOR  FROM  DEWEY'S  FLEET 


|N0WN  as  a  sea-captain,  and  not  at  all  as  an  orator,  Joseph  B. 
Coghlan,  one  of  Dewey's  officers  at  the  great  naval  battle  of 
Manila  Bay,  won  a  degree  of  prominence  in  the  domain  of 
after-dinner  oratory  at  New  York,  in  1899  ;  his  telling  story  of  how 
Dewey  taught  a  lesson  to  the  German  admiral  spreading  like  wildfire 
through  the  country.  This  one  speech  is  well  worth  preserving  both 
for  its  intrinsic  interest  and  as  an  example  of  the  style  adapted  to  a 
speech  which  includes  a  good  story.  Captain  Coghlan,  born  at 
Frankfort,  Kentucky,  in  1844,  graduated  from  the  Naval  Academy 
at  Annapolis,  in  1863,  and  saw  service  on  the  Sacramento  during  the 
remainder  of  the  war.  Subsequently  he  rose  slowly  in  rank,  being 
made  commander  in  1882,  and  captain  in  1896.  As  such  he  was  in 
command  of  the  Raleigh,  which  was  a  part  of  Commodore  Dewey's 
squadron  at  Hong  Kong,  when  the  war  with  Spain  began,  and  played 
his  part  in  the  memorable,  most  effective  and,  illustrious  affair  in  the 
waters  of  Manila  Bay  on  May  1,  1898. 

The  event  referred  to  in  the  following  brief  speech  was  one  that 
for  the  time  being  excited  as  much  irritation  in  the  United  States  as 
in  the  fleet  before  Manila.  Germany  sent  to  Manila  Bay  after  Dewey's 
victory  a  far  larger  fleet  than  any  other  nation,  and  the  actions  of  the 
admiral  gave  rise  to  the  suspicion  that  an  intention  was  entertained 
of  interfering  in  the  settlement  of  the  Philippine  question.  This  was 
especially  the  case  after  the  German  gunboat  Irene  prevented  the 
insurgents  from  attacking  the  Spaniards  on  Grande  Island,  in  Subic 
Bay.  This  was  considered  by  many  in  the  United  States  as  little 
short  of  an  act  of  war.  Throughout  the  blockade  of  Manila  the  Ger 
man  admiral  acted  with  what  seemed  discourtesy  to  the  American 
380 


I 


JOSEPH  B.  COGHLAN  S81 

and  Admiral  Dewey,  though  he  bore  it  with  seeming  disregard,  was 

no  doubt  irritated  by  it.     This  is  evident  in  the  cuhninating  incident, 

as  described  below. 

DEVEY  AT  MANILA 

[Captain  Coghlan's  one  appearance  as  an  oratorwasatthebanquet  given  April  21, 
1899,  at  the  Union  League  Club  of  New  York,  to  himself  and  the  other  officers  of  the 
Raleigh,  then  in  port  at  that  city.  His  racy  and  telling  story  of  the  interview  between 
Dewey  and  the  messenger  of  the  German  Admiral  von  Diedrichs,  was  read  with 
much  interest  and  amusement  throughout  the  country,  and  helped  to  enhance  the 
reputation  of  the  gallant  Dewey.] 

Mk.  President  and  Genti^emen  of  the  Union  League  :  I  thought 
I  came  here  on  the  condition  that  I  was  to  do  no  talking.  I  get  scared  to 
death  when  called  upon  to  speak,  and  sometimes  I  don't  say  what  I  want 
to.  So  you  will  excuse  me  for  everything  out  of  the  way  that  I  say  to- 
night. I  was  almost  breathless  as  I  listened  to  your  president's  speech. 
The  more  he  spoke  the  more  I  thought :  "  For  God's  sake,  can  he  mean 
us  ?  "  As  he  went  on  I  recognized  the  name  of  our  beloved  chief,  Admiral 
Dewey;  I  knew  he  was  simply  patting  the  admiral  over  our  shoulders,  and 
I  thought  to  myself:  "  He  can't  do  too  much  of  that  to  suit  me."  We 
feel  that  we  may  be  congratulated  on  our  home-coming  ;  not  for  what  we 
have  done,  but  for  having  served  under  Admiral  Dewey.  We  love  him 
and  give  him  all  the  credit  for  what  was  done  by  the  American  fleet  at 
Manila.  If  we  thought  it  was  possible  by  accepting  this  kind  reception 
to-night  to  take  away  from  him  one  iota  of  this  credit,  we  would  feel  that 
we  were  doing  wrong. 

We  were  with  Dewey  from  the  start  to  the  finish,  and  on  each  day  we 
learned  more  to  love  and  respect  him,  that  the  honor  was  safe  in  his  hands, 
and  that  nothing  in  which  he  was  engaged  but  would  redound  to  the 
credit  of  our  country.  During  the  days  after  the  great  fight  was  over,  he 
suffered  the  most  outrageous  nagging  ;  on,  on  it  went,  day  after  day,  rub- 
bing clean  through  the  flesh  to  the  bone,  but  he  always  held  himself  and 
others  up.  I  tell  you  it  was  magnificent.  I  must  tell  you  of  an  incident 
which  I  think  will  be  of  interest.  Our  German  friend.  Admiral  von 
Diedrichs,  sent  an  ofiScer  to  complain  of  the  restrictions  placed  upon  him 
by  Admiral  Dewey.  I  happened  to  be  near  by  at  the  time,  and  I  over- 
heard the  latter  part  of  the  conversation  between  this  ofi&cer  and  our  chief. 
I  shall  never  forget  it,  and  I  want  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  know 
what  Admiral  Dewey  said  that  day. 

*'  Tell  your  admiral,"  said  he,  *'  his  ships  must  stop  where  I  say," 
"  But  we  fly  a  flag, ' '  said  the  ofiicer.  ' '  Those  flags  can  be  bought  at  half 
a  dollar  a  yard  anywhere,"  said  the  Admiral,  and  there  wasn't  a  bit  of  fun 


382  JOSEPH  B.  COGHLAN 

in  his  face  when  he  said  it  either.  **  Any  one  can  fly  that  flag,'"  he  con- 
tinued. *  *  The  whole  Spanish  fleet  might  come  on  with  those  colors  if  they 
wanted  to.  Therefore,  I  must  and  will  stop  you.  Tell  your  admiral  I 
am  blockading  here.  I  am  tired  of  the  character  of  his  conduct.  I  have 
made  it  as  lenient  as  possible  for  him.  Now  the  time  has  arrived  when  he 
must  stop.  Listen  to  me.  Tell  your  admiral  that  the  slightest  refraction^ 
of  these  orders  by  himself  or  his  officers  will  mean  but  one  thing.  Tell 
him  what  I  say — it  will  mean  war.  Make  no  mistake  when  I  say  it  will 
mean  war.  If  you  people  are  ready  for  war  with  the  United  States,  you 
can  have  it  in  five  minutes." 

I  am  free  to  admit  that  the  admiral's  speech  to  that  officer  took  my 
breath  away.  As  that  officer  left  to  go  back  to  his  ship,  he  said  to  an 
American  officer  w^hose  name  I  do  not  recall  :  "  I  think  your  admiral 
does  not  exactly  understand."  **0h,  yes  he  does,"  said  the  American 
officer.  "  He  not  only  understands,  but  he  means  every  word  he  says." 
That  was  the  end  of  that  bosh.  After  that  the  Germans  didn't  dare  to 
breathe  more  than  four  times  in  succession  without  asking  the  admiral's 
permission. 

The  North  and  the  South  fought  together  at  Manila  Bay,  as  they  did 
in  Cuba  ;  and,  I  tell  you,  together  they  are  invincible.  Not  only  is  our 
country  one  to-day,  but  I  tell"  you  the  English-speaking  race  is  one  also.* 
The  English  people  are  with  us  heart  and  soul,  and  they  were  with  us 
before  we  went  to  Manila,  as  I  will  show  you.  On  the  wharves  at  Hong 
Kong,  before  we  started  for  Manila,  strange  officers  met  us  and  introduced 
themselves,  which  you  will  agree  is  a  very  un-English  proceeding.  They 
wished  us  all  manner  of  luck.  One  said  to  me  :  *  *  By  Jove,  if  you  fellows 
don't  wipe  them  out,  don't  come  back  to  us,  because  we  won't  speak  to 
you."  Afterward,  when  we  went  back  to  Hong  Kong,  one  of  those 
English  officers  said  to  me  :  "By  Jove,  we  never  gave  you  credit  for  style  ; 
but  my  !  you  can  shoot !  ' ' 

And  now  that  is  all  that  I  have  to  say,  except  to  ask  a  favor.  I  want 
you  to  join  me  in  drinking  the  health  of  our  chief,  Admiral  Dewey. 


JAMES  PROCTOR  KNOTT  (1830 

A  STATESMAN  AND  HUMORIST 


mT  is  not  often  that  Congress,  and  the  country  at  large,  is  captured 
by  a  single  speech,  but  this  was  accomplished  in  1871,  by  J. 
Proctor  Knott,  then  Representative  from  Kentucky,  in  perhaps 
the  most  irresistibly  humorous  speech  ever  delivered  before  the  national 
law-makers.  Duluth  survived  the  satire  of  his  speech,  and  in  thirty 
years  has  grown  from  a  name  on  the  map  into  a  flourishing  commer- 
cial city.  But  Knott  became  the  victim  of  his  speech.  He  could  be 
sober  and  earnest  enough  on  occasion,  but  Congress  thereafter  refused 
to  take  him  seriously,  everything  he  uttered  being  dissected  for  the 
possible  spirit  of  fun,  which  might  lurk  somewhere  within  its  sen- 
tences. So  we  may  designate  Knott  as  the  man  of  one  speech.  Mr. 
Knott  is  a  Kentuckian  by  birth,  though  part  of  his  life  was  passed  in 
Missouri,  where  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  in  1858,  and  was 
Attorney-General  for  the  State  1859-62.  He  served  in  Congress  as  a 
member  from  Kentucky  1867-83  and  was  Governor  of  Kentucky 
1885-87.     He  was  professor  of  civics  and  economics  at  Centre  College 

from  1892  to  1894. 

THE  MYSTERY  OF  DULUTH 

[Early  in  1871  a  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House  of  Representatives  for  the 
construction  of  what  was  entitled  the  St.  Croix  and  Bayfield  Railroad,  for  the  develop- 
ment of  a  virgin  northern  corner  of  Minnesota,  its  proposed  terminus  being  a  newly 
settled  place  on  Lake  Superior  named  Duluth.  The  country  seems  to  have  been  one 
of  barren  pine  forest,  which  was  being  "developed"  apparently  for  some  personal 
interest.  We  offer  a  sample  selection  of  the  ridicule  with  which  Mr.  Knott  riddled 
the  project.  Though  not  made  on  a  social  occasion,  the  speech  is  best  fitted  for  this 
section  of  our  work.] 

No,  sir,  I  repeat  I  have  been  satisfied  for  years  that  if  there  was  any 
portion  of  the  inhabited  globe  absolutely  in  a  suffering  condition  for  want 
of  a  railroad,  it  was  those  teeming  pine  barrens  of  the  St.  Croix.     At 

383 


SU  James  proctor  knott 

what  particular  point  on  that  noble  stream  such  a  road  should  be  com- 
menced I  knew  was  immaterial,  and  so  it  seems  to  have  been  considered 
by  the  draughtsman  of  this  bill.  It  might  be  up  at  the  spring,  or  down 
at  the  foot-log,  or  the  water-gate,  or  the  fish-dam,  or  anywhere  along  the 
bank,  no  matter  where.  But  in  what  direction  it  should  run,  or  where  it 
should  terminate,  were  always  to  my  mind  questions  of  the  most  painful 
perplexit3^  I  could  conceive  of  no  place  on  "  God's  green  earth  "  in 
such  straightened  circumstances  for  railroad  facilities  as  to  be  likely  to 
desire  or  willing  to  accept  such  a  connection.  I  knew  that  neither  Bay- 
field nor  Superior  City  would  have  it,  for  they  both  indignantly  spurned 
the  munificence  of  the  Government  when  coupled  with  such  ignominious 
conditions,  and  let  this  very  same  land-grant  die  on  their  hands  years  and 
years  ago,  rather  than  submit  to  the  degradation  of  a  direct  communica- 
tion by  railroad  with  the  piny  woods  of  the  St.  Croix  ;  and  I  knew  that 
what  the  enterprising  inhabitants  of  those  giant  young  cities  would  refuse 
to  take  would  have  few  charms  for  others,  whatever  their  necessity  or 
cupidity  might  be. 

Hence,  as  I  have  said,  sir,  I  was  utterly  at  a  loss  to  determine  where 
the  terminus  of  this  great  and  indispensable  road  should  be,  until  I  acci- 
dentally overheard  some  gentleman  the  other  day  mention  the  name  of 
* '  Duluth. '  *  Duluth  !  The  word  fell  upon  my  ear  with  peculiar  and 
indescribable  charm,  like  the  gentle  murmur  of  a  low  fountain  stealing 
forth  in  the  midst  of  roses  ;  or  the  soft,  sweet  accents  of  an  angel's  whisper 
in  the  bright,  joyous  dream  of  sleeping  innocence.  Duluth  !  'Twas  the 
name  for  which  my  soul  had  panted  for  years,  as  the  hart  panted  for  the 
water-brooks.  But  where  was  Duluth  ?  Never,  in  all  my  limited  read- 
ing, had  my  vision  been  gladdened  by  seeing  the  celestial  word  in  print. 
And  I  felt  a  profounder  humiliation  in  my  ignorance  that  its  dulcet  sylla- 
bles had  never  before  ravished  my  delighted  ear.  I  was  certain  the 
draughtsmen  of  this  bill  had  never  heard  of  it,  or  it  would  have  been 
designated  as  one  of  the  termini  of  this  road.  I  asked  my  friends  about 
it,  but  they  knew  nothing  of  it.  I  rushed  to  the  library  and  examined  all 
the  maps  I  could  find.  I  discovered  in  one  of  them  a  delicate,  hair-like 
line,  diverging  from  the  Mississippi  near  a  place  marked  Prescott,  which 
I  suppose  was  intended  to  represent  the  river  St.  Croix,  but  I  could 
nowhere  find  Duluth. 

Nevertheless,  I  was  confident  it  existed  somewhere,  and  that  its  dis- 
covery would  constitute  the  crowning  glory  of  the  present  century,  if  not 
of  all  modern  times.  I  knew  it  was  bound  to  exist,  in  the  very  nature  of 
things  ;  that  the  symmetry  and  perfection  of  our  planetary  system  would 
be  incomplete  without  it ;  that  the  elements  of  material  nature  would  long 


I 


JAMES  PROCTOR  KNOTT  386 

since  have  resolved  themselves  back  into  original  chaos  if  there  had  been 
such  a  hiatus  in  creation  as  would  have  resulted  from  leaving  out  Duluth. 
In  fact,  sir,  I  was  overwhelmed  with  the  conviction  that  Duluth  not 
only  existed  somewhere,  but  that,  wherever  it  was,  it  was  a  great  and 
glorious  place.  I  was  convinced  that  the  greatest  calamity  that  ever  befell 
the  benighted  nations  of  the  ancient  world  was  in  their  having  passed 
away  without  a  knowledge  of  the  actual  existence  of  Duluth  ;  that  their 
fabled  Atlantis,  never  seen  save  by  the  hallowed  vision  of  inspired  poesy, 
was,  in  fact,  but  another  name  for  Duluth  ;  that  the  golden  orchard  of  the 
Hesperides  was  but  a  poetical  synonym  for  the  beer-gardens  in  the  vicinity 
of  Duluth.  I  was  certain  that  Herodotus  had  died  a  miserable  death, 
because  in  all  his  travels,  and  with  all  his  geographical  research,  he  had 
never  heard  of  Duluth.  I  knew  that  if  the  immortal  spirit  of  Homer 
could  look  down  from  another  heaven  than  that  created  by  his  own  celes- 
tial genius,  upon  the  long  line  of  pilgrims  from  every  nation  of  the  earth 
to  the  gushing  fountain  of  his  poesy  opened  by  the  touch  of  his  magic 
wand ; — if  he  could  be  permitted  to  behold  the  vast  assemblage  of  grand 
and  glorious  productions  of  the  lyric  art  called  into  being  by  his  own 
inspired  strains,  he  would  weep  tears  of  bitter  anguish  that,  instead  of 
lavishing  all  the  stores  of  his  mighty  genius  upon  the  fall  of  Ilion,  it  had 
not  been  his  more  blessed  lot  to  crystallize  in  deathless  song  the  rising 
glories  of  Duluth.  Yes,  sir,  had  it  not  been  for  this  map,  kindly  fur- 
nished by  the  Legislature  of  Minnesota,  I  might  have  gone  down  to  my 
obscure  and  humble  grave  in  an  agony  of  despair,  because  I  could  nowhere 
find  Duluth.  Had  such  been  my  melancholy  fate,  I  have  no  doubt  that 
with  the  last  feeble  pulsation  of  my  breaking  heart,  I  should  have  whispered 
Where  is  Duluth?" 

But,  thanks  to  the  beneficence  of  that  band  of  ministering  angels  who 
have  their  bright  abodes  in  the  far-ofi"  capital  of  Minnesota,  just  as  the 
agony  of  my  anxiety  was  about  to  culminate  in  the  frenzy  of  despair,  this 
blessed  map  was  placed  in  my  hands  ;  and  as  I  unfolded  it  a  resplendent 
scene  of  ineffable  glory  opened  before  me,  such  as  I  imagine  burst  upon 
the  enraptured  vision  of  the  wandering  peri  through  the  opening  of  Para- 
dise. There,  there  for  the  first  time,  my  enchanted  eye  rested  upon  the. 
ravishing  word,  ' '  Duluth. ' ' 

This  map,  sir,  is  intended,  as  it  appears  from  its  title,  to  illustrate  the 
position  of  Duluth  in  the  United  States  ;  but  if  gentlemen  will  examine 
t,  I  think  they  will  concur  with  me  in  the  opinion  that  it  is  far  too  modest 
n  its  pretentions.  It  not  only  illustrates  the  position  of  Duluth  in  the 
United  States,  but  exhibits  its  relations  with  all  created  things.  It  even 
joes  further  than  this.  It  lifts  the  shadowy  veil  of  futurity,  and  affords 
25 


S86  JAMES  PROCTOR  KNOTT 

US  a  view  of  the  golden  prospects  of  Duluth  far  along  the  dim  vista  of 
ages  yet  to  come. 

If  gentlemen  will  examine  it,  they  will  find  Duluth,  not  only  in  the 
centre  of  the  map,  but  represented  in  the  centre  of  a  series  of  concentric 
circles  one  hundred  miles  apart,  and  some  of  them  as  much  as  four  thou- 
sand miles  in  diameter,  embracing  alike,  in  their  tremendous  sweep,  the 
fragrant  savannas  of  the  sunlit  South,  and  the  eternal  solitudes  of  snow 
that  mantle  the  ice-bound  North.  How  these  circles  were  produced  is, 
perhaps,  one  of  the  most  primordial  mysteries  that  the  most  skillful  paleo- 
logist  will  never  be  able  to  explain.  But  the  fact  is,  sir,  Duluth  is  pre- 
eminently a  central  place,  for  I  am  told  by  gentlemen  who  have  been 
so  reckless  of  their  own  personal  safety  as  to  venture  into  those  awful 
regions  where  Duluth  is  supposed  to  be,  that  it  is  so  exactly  in  the  centre 
of  the  visible  universe  that  the  sky  comes  down  at  precisely  the  same  dis- 
tance all  around  it 

Sir,  I  might  stand  here  for  hours  and  hours,  and  expatiate  with  rap- 
ture upon  the  gorgeous  prospects  of  Duluth,  as  depicted  upon  this  map. 
But  human  life  is  too  short  and  the  time  of  this  House  far  too  valuable  to 
allow  me  to  linger  longer  upon  the  delightful  theme.  I  think  every  gen- 
tleman on  this  floor  is  as  well  satisfied  as  I  am  that  Duluth  is  destined  to 
become  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  universe,  and  that  this  road 
should  be  built  at  once  ....  Nevertheless,  sir,  it  grieves  my  very  soul 
to  be  compelled  to  say  that  I  cannot  vote  for  the  grant  of  lands  provided 
for  in  this  bill.  Ah,  sir,  you  can  have  no  conception  of  the  poignancy  of" 
my  anguish  that  I  am  deprived  of  that  blessed  privilege  !  There  are  two 
insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way.  In  the  first  place  my  constituents,  for 
whom  I  am  acting  here,  have  no  more  interest  in  this  road  than  they  have 
in  the  great  question  of  culinary  taste  now  perhaps  agitating  the  public 
mind  of  Dominica,  as  to  whether  the  illustrious  commissioners  who 
recently  left  this  capital  for  that  free  and  enlightened  republic  would  be 
better  fricasseed,  boiled  or  roasted  ;  and  in  the  second  place  these  lands, 
which  I  am  asked  to  give  away,  alas,  are  not  mine  to  bestow.  My  relation 
to  them  is  simply  that  of  trustee  to  an  express  trust.  And  shall  I  ever 
betray  that  trust  ?  Never,  sir  !  Rather  perish  Duluth  !  Perish  the  para- 
gon of  cities.  Rather  let  the  freezing  cyclones  of  the  bleak  Northwest 
bury  it  forever  beneath  the  eddying  sands  of  the  raging  St.  Croix  ! 


WU  TING  FANG 

A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  ORATOR  FROM  CHINA 


|E  are  almost  daily  learning  something  new  about  the  great  silent 
empire  of  Eastern  Asia,  the  "  Celestial  Kingdom  "  of  the  far 
East.  No  one,  for  instance,  would  have  thought  of  crediting 
any  of  the  Chinese  with  powers  of  oratory.  There  is  nothing,  so  far 
as  we  know,  in  the  conditions  of  China  to  develop  the  art  of  public 
speaking — either  political,  legal,  religious  or  educational.  Yet  in  Wu 
Ting  Fang,  late  Chinese  Minister  to  the  United  States,  we  have  had  an 
orator  of  excellent  powers,  a  living  prooi  that  the  Chinaman  only  needs 
opportunity  to  develop  oratorical  ability.  Minister  Wu,  indeed,  was 
educated  in  Western  lands,  is  proficient  in  the  English  language  and 
literature,  and  has  native  powers  of  thought  and  fluency  in  expres- 
sion associated  with  a  sense  of  humor  which  gives  piquancy  to  his 
utterances.  It  is  to  these  educational  and  natural  powers  that  he  owes 
his  reputation  in  oratory.  During  his  sojourn  at  Washington  he  was 
often  heard  in  the  neighboring  cities,  on  social  or  other  occasions,  and 
proved  himself  an  entertaining  and  popular  orator — not  an  especially 
talented  speaker,  but  one  capable  of  interesting  an  American  audience. 

A  WONDERFUL  NATION 

[In  1900  the  Chinese  Minister  delivered  a  brief  address  at  a  club  dinner  in  New 
York,  in  which  he  highly  eulogized  the  United  States,  alike  for  the  progressive  spirit 
of  its  institutions,  the  honor  and  ability  of  its  officials,  and  its  greatness  and  rare 
promise  as  a  nation.     We  append  this  testimonial  to  the  American  spirit.] 

Gentlemen,  from  my  boyhood  I  have  learned  in  the  classics  of  Con- 
fucius that  in  your  dealings  with  others  your  words  should  be  sincere.  I 
can  conscientiously  say  that  I  have  always  acted  up  to  that  injunction. 
It  is  sometimes  said  that  a  diplomatic  representative  is  a  gentleman  sent 
abroad  to  lie  for  the  good  of  his  country.  Perhaps  that  would  do  two  or 
\  387 


388  WU  TING   FANG 

three  centuries  ago,  but  I  firmly  believe  that  diplomats  as  well  as  men  in 
other  professions  should  act  straightforwardly  and  honestly,  because  while 
the  use  of  falsehood  may  temporarily  secure  an  advantage,  sooner  or  later 
the  truth  will  be  found  out,  and  the  consequences  would  be  very  serious. 
So  therefore  I  believe  in  the  maxim,  "  Honesty  is  the  best  policy."  I 
might  compare  the  profession  of  a  diplomat  in  a  foreign  country  somewhat 
to  that  of  a  lawyer  pleading  a  case  before  a  Court.  It  would  not  do  for 
the  lawyer  in  advocating  the  interest  of  his  client  to  quote  an  obsolete  law 
or  statutes  which  have  been  repealed,  or  to  distort  facts  with  a  view  of 
deceiving  the  Court  and  the  jury.  No  respectable  lawyer,  I  am  sure, 
would  stoop  to  do  such  a  thing. 

In  saying  this,  gentlemen,  I  do  not  insinuate  that  the  lawyers  in  this 
country  are  not  honest.  I  believe  they  are  all  honest.  I  would  be  the 
last  man  to  slander  the  legal  profession,  to  which  I  have  the  honor  to 
belong.  So  a  diplomat,  although  he  is  acting  for  the  interest  of  his  coun- 
try, should  be  straightforward  and  do  his  best,  and  while  doing  his  best 
for  the  interests  of  his  country,  he  ought  to  be  a  gentleman  and  act  hon- 
estly ;  but  without  a  just  tribunal,  however  able  a  lawyer  may  be,  his  case 
may  be  defeated  ;  but  in  my  case  if  is  with  gratitude  and  pleasure  that  I 
acknowledge  that  I  have  a  fair  and  just  tribunal  before  whom  I  plead  the 
interests  of  my  country.  The  potent,  wise,  and  moderate  policy  of  your 
government,  and  the  fairness  and  straightforwardness  of  the  administra- 
tion, headed  by  your  President,  assisted  in  a  great  measure  by  your  Secre- 
tary of  State — to  them  is  due  the  credit,  rather  than  to  me,  for  what  has 
been  done  in  the  last  summer  ;  and  credit  is  also  due  to  the  press  generally 
in  this  country,  which  shapes  public  opinion,  and  to  the  people  of  this 
country,  because  as  far  as  I  can  find  out  they  have  almost  unanimously 
endorsed  the  humane  and  wise  policy  of  the  administration.  Since  the 
unfortunate  occurrence*  I  have  been  receiving  from  day  to  day  innumera- 
ble letters  from  persons,  many  of  whom  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  know- 
ing, expressing  their  sympathy  for  China.  ! 

There  is  a  saying  in  our  classics  that  the  people  should  be  made  to 
follow,  but  not  be  able  to  understand,  the  reason  of  things.  But  I  may 
say,  in  the  case  of  the  American  people,  this  maxim  of  Confucius  is  inap- 
plicable, because  I  find  in  every  public  question  that  the  people  are  very 
intelligent  and  lovers  of  fair  play.  This,  indeed,  is  a  wonderful  nation. 
Last  Wednesday  the  city  of  Washington  celebrated  its  centennial,  and  I 
was  fortunate  enough  to  listen  to  the  exercises  at  the  Capitol,  and  among 
the  public  addresses  given  by  the  Congressman  and  Senators,  there  is  one 
speech  I  will  not  forget.     It  is  the  speech  of  Senator  Daniel.     In  his 

*  The  Boxer  outbreak  in  China. 


DISTINGUISHED  WOMEN  ORATORS 
Temperance,  Equal  Rights  for  Women  and  Reform  in  the  Moral 
and  Pohticai  World  have  been  the  themes  advocated  bv  these 
distinguished  women  orators. 


WU  TING  FANG  389 

Opening  address,  if  I  remember  rightly,  he  said  that  ancient  history  has  no 
precedent  for  the  United  States  of  America,  and  modern  history  has  no 
parallel.  That  is  a  grand  expression,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true.  There 
is  no  ancient  history  for  your  great  country,  but  your  country  has  been 
making  history.  American  history  dates  from  the  life  of  Washington,  and 
is  enriched  by  the  noble  achievements  of  Lincoln  and  Grant  and  the  many 
others  whom  it  is  needless  for  me  to  enumerate,  and  of  whom  you  know 
more  than  I  do.  Coming  to  the  present  day,  it  is  embellished  by  such 
household  words  as  the  names  of  Miles  and  Dewey,  and  last,  but  not  the 
least,  the  name  of  William  McKinley. 

Yes,  your  history  is  rapidly  filling  up  with  the  noble  deeds  of  your 
men.  But  we  diplomats,  we  foreign  diplomats,  do  not  understand  your 
politics.  I  am  speaking  of  myself — perhaps  I  should  be  going  too  far 
thus  to  refer  to  my  colleagues,  who  are  more  learned  than  I  am — but, 
speaking  for  myself,  I  do  not  understand  your  politics.  Your  politics  are 
too  complicated  for  me.  For  instance,  I  have  not  been  able  to  master 'the 
intricacies  of  ' '  sixteen  to  one  ' '  and  the  ' '  full  dinner-pail . ' '  These  things 
are  too  deep  for  my  dull  understanding.  But  I  understand  this,  which- 
ever political  party  may  reign  in  the  White  House,  the  glory  of  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  will  not  in  any  event  grow  dim.  As  long  as  you  remain  the 
people  who  form  this  administration,  headed  by  that  noble,  humane,  and 
level-headed  man  who  is  now  your  President — I  say,  as  long  as  you  have 
such  men  at  the  head  of  your  government,  your  great  nation  will  continue 
to  command  the  respect  of  all  the  other  nations  of  the  world. 

Gentlemen,  I  will  not  occupy  your  time  much  longer,  and  in  conclud- 
ing will  say  that  Senator  Daniel,  in  concluding  his  speech,  expressed  the 
hope  that  the  city  of  Washington  will  be  in  course  of  time  the  capital  of  a 
universal  republic.  When  I  heard  this  I  could  not  understand,  but  when 
I  came  home  I  pondered  over  it,  and  I  think  I  have  found  out  his  deep 
meaning.  The  meaning,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  is  this — that  the  position, 
the  high  position,  and  the  just  policy  of  your  nation  will  be  in  course  of 
time  recognized  and  will  prevail  among  all  different  nations,  so  that  the 
city  of  Washington  will  become  in  the  near  future  the  seat  of  universal 
peace,  justice,  and  truth.  When  that  day  comes,  and  I  hope  it  will  not 
be  far  distant,  the  superior  men  of  this  country,  of  which  the  members  of 
this  club  form  an  element,  will  have  much  to  do,  and  will  take  a  prom- 
inent part  in  bringing  about  that  happy  state  of  things. 

Gentlemen,  I  thank  you  for  your  courtesy  and  the  honor  you  have 
(Jone  me. 


JOHN  MITCHELL  (1869 ) 

THE  COAL  MINER'S  ADVOCATE 


OF  the  representatives  of  the  workingmen  at  the  opening  of  the 
twentieth  century  none  was  more  zealous  for  the  advancement 

'  of  his  fellow-artisans,  or  more  widely  known  to  the  people  alike 
of  America  and  Europe,  than  John  Mitchell,  President  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers,  and  leader  in  the  great  strike  of  the  anthracite  coal 
miners  in  1902,  the  most  famous  event  of  the  new  century  in  the 
world  of  industry.  A  miner  himself — he  entered  the  mines  of  Illinois 
at  the  age  of  thirteen — Mitchell  early  joined  the  Knights  of  Labor, 
studied  at  night  to  gain  what  education  he  could,  read  all  the  books 
he  could  find  on  sociological  subjects  and,  in  every  way  available, 
fitted  himself  for  his  future  career.  His  native  powers  and  genius  for 
organization  told.  Joining  the  United  Mine  Workers  in  1890,  when 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  was  made  vice-president  of  the  organiza- 
tion in  January,  1892,  and  president  in  the  following  January.  This 
presidency  which  he  has  held  for  so  many  years  is  of  an  organization  of 
over  300,000  members.  He  led  the  soft  coal  miners  successfully 
through  the  great  strike  of  1897,  and  the  hard  coal  miners  through 
that  of  1892,  and  is  looked  upon  by  working  men  and  capitalists 
alike  as  a  genius  in  organization  and  a  Napoleon  in  the  manage- 
ment of  an  industrial  convulsion. 

As  an  orator,  Mr.  Mitchell  is  not  given  to  the  passionate  declama- 
tion so  commonly  indulged  in  by  popular  leaders,  but  confines  him 
self  to  logical  treatment  of  the  question  at  issue,  expressed  in  languag 
so  simple  that  even  the  breaker  boys  of  the  mine  can  follow  him  wit 
interest  and  understanding.     He  is  always  cool   and  self-possessed 
never  permits  himself  to  become  flustered  or  thrown  into  a  passio 
and  in  all  the  difficult  situations  arising  from  the  great  coal  strik 


JOHN  MITCHELL  391 

conducted  himself  m  a  manner  to  win  the  respect  and  admiration  of 
his  adversaries.  Mr.  Mitchell's  oratory  scarcely  appertains  to  the 
present  section  of  our  work,  but  as  the  youngest  of  American  public 
speakers  who  has  won  a  reputation,  we  deem  it  advisable  to  place  him 
here  at  the  end  of  the  American  section  of  our  work. 

AN  APPEAL  FOR  THE  MINERS 

[On  Labor  Day,  September  i,  1902,  John  Mitchell  addressed  an  immense  audi- 
ence of  workingmen  at  Washington  Park,  a  place  of  public  resort  near  Philadelphia. 
As  a  favorable  example  of  his  oratorical  manner,  we  append  his  address  on  that 
occasion.] 

This  day  has  been  decreed  as  labor's  special  holiday,  and  from  one 
end  of  the  country  to  the  other  the  great  hosts  of  labor  have  assembled 
and  are  reviewing  the  struggles  of  the  past  and  preparing  for  the  struggles 
of  the  future.  The  year  just  closed  has  been  unprecedented  in  the  growth 
of  the  trades  union  movement,  and  of  independent  thought  and  action. 
But  new  problems  have  arisen  which  will  tax  our  greatest  strength  to 
solve.  We  have  this  year  government  by  injunction  and  ownership  by 
Divine  right  in  the  most  accentuated  form.  If  one  of  the  most  conspicu- 
ous among  the  capitalists  properly  represents  the  sentiment  of  his  asso- 
ciates, then  we  must  take  it  for  granted  that  they  believe  that  God  in  His 
infinite  wisdom  has  given  into  their  hands  all  the  resources  of  our  country. 
As  a  boy  I  was  taught  to  believe  that  God  loved  all  His  people  alike  ;  that 
He  conferred  no  more  power  or  privileges  on  one  than  on  another.  And, 
notwithstanding  the  declaration  of  the  controllers  of  the  trusts,  I  am  not 
prepared  to  abandon  the  teachings  of  my  mother  and  my  Sunday-school 
teacher.  Every  year  sees  some  struggle  of  the  workers  that  stands  out 
conspicuously.  This  year  it  happens  that  the  coal  miners  of  Pennsyl- 
vania are  engaged  in  a  life  and  death  struggle  for  the  right  to  live. 

The  struggle  of  the  miners  is  the  greatest  contest  between  labor  and 
capital  in  the  history  of  the  world,  not  only  because  of  its  magnitude,  but 
because  of  the  issues  involved.  The  miners  are  fighting  for  rights  guar- 
anteed by  our  country  and  exercised  by  their  employers.  They  are  en- 
gaged in  a  life  and  death  struggle,  trying  to  gain  sufficient  to  enable  them 
to  take  their  children  of  tender  years  from  the  mines  and  the  mills  and  send 
them  to  school,  where,  as  American  children,  they  belong. 

I  want  to  repeat  to  you  what  I  said  in  a  speech  in  Wilmington  :  Had 
the  Coal  Trust  known  that  it  had  to  fight  the  American  people  to  beat  the 
miners,  they  would  never  have  engaged  in  this  fight.  I  have  an  abiding 
faith  in  the  American  people.  Once  they  believe  that  a  wrong  has  been 
perpetrated  the  heart  of  the  people  goes  out  in  sympathy,  and  they  see  that 


392  JOHN  MITCHELL 

the  wrong  is  righted.  If  my  reception  in  Philadelphia  and  here  represents 
the  sentiment  throughout  this  country,  and  I  believe  it  does,  then,  my 
friends,  the  coal  miners  cannot  lose.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  believe 
that  the  loss  of  the  miners'  strike  will  destroy  the  trades  union  movement; 
but  I  do  believe  it  would  give  to  unionism  the  most  severe  shock  it  has 
had  in  many  years. 

The  history  of  the  inception  and  progress  of  the  strike  is  known  to 
all  of  you.  It  is  indelibly  impressed  upon  the  hearts  of  the  workingmen 
of  the  country.  It  is  unnecessary  to  review  that  now,  but  I  want  to  say 
that  this  struggle  was  not  started  until  we  had  exhausted  every  conceiv- 
able means  of  settlement.  The  struggle  would  not  have  been  inaugurated 
or  continued  if  the  operators  had  consented  to  conciliation,  mediation  or 
arbitration.  They  have  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all.  Now  we  must  win  or  be 
crushed. 

To  win  this  strike  we  must  have  the  assistance  of  our  fellow-workers 
and  of  all  generous  citizens.  It  is  much  more  pleasant  to  give  than  to 
receive.  I  should  be  much  happier  if  I  could  come  here  and  say  that  the 
miners'  union  had  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  give  away,  rather 
than  ask  you  to  help  feed  the  families  of  the  men.  As  it  is,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  appeal  to  workingmen  and  to  the  public  to  give  us  a  small 
portion  of  their  earnings  to  keep  our  people  from  starving. 

I  believe  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  workingmen  will  know  ho^ 
to  solve  this  problem.     I  am  free  to  say  that  my  own  views  have  beenj 
somewhat  changed  since  this  strike  started.     Workmen  know  that  I  have] 
been  identified  with  every  peace  movement  that  might  help  the  workers. 
I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  they  always  will  be  failures,  but  they  will 
be  failures  as  long  as  employers  will  not  listen  to  reason  and  the  truth. 

I  look  forward  to  the  time  when  the  wage  earners  will  take  their 
proper  place  ;  when  those  who  build  the  mansions  will  not  live  in  hovels ; 
when  the  men  who  build  the  lightning  express  and  the  parlor  cars  will 
not  walk  from  station  to  station  looking  for  work  ;  when  those  whose  labor 
erects  the  buildings  whose  spires  reach  heavenward  will  not  have  to  pass 
by  the  doors  because  they  are  too  ragged  to  enter. 

I  stand  for  the  solidarity  of  the  trades  union  movement.  I  hope  to 
see  the  time  when  no  man  who  earns  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow 
will  be  outside  of  his  trade  union,  when  the  workers  of  our  country  will 
take  possession  of  their  own. 


European  Orators 


Book      I.  Orators  of  Greece  and  Rome 

Book     II.  Pulpit  Orators  of  Medieval  Europe 

Book    III.  English  Orators  of  the  Middle  Period 

Book    IV.  The  Golden  Age  of  British  Oratory 

Book     V.  Orators  of  the  Victorian  Reign 

Book    VI.  The  Pulpit  Orators  of  Great  Britain 

Book  vn.  Orators  of  the  French  Revolution 

Book  VIII.  Nineteenth  Century  Orators  of  France 

Book    ix.  Orators  of  Southern  and  Central  Europe 


ed  a 
.,  as  r 


39.S 


BOOK  L 

Orators  of  Greece  and  Rome 

THE  history  of  oratory  is  as  old  as  the  written 
history  of  the  human  race.  But  for  examples 
of  actual  discourses  we   must  come  down  to 

the  literature  of  the  classic  age,  the  period  of 
Greece  and  Rome.  And  of  the  orators  of  this  age, 
the  public  utterances  of  very  few  have  been  preserved 
in  their  original  form.  Of  the  speeches  of  Pericles, 
the  earliest  famous  orator  of  Athens,  we  have  only 
the  version  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  Thucydides ; 
while  the  dying  speech  of  Socrates,  as  given  by  Plato, 
was  probably  invented  by  Plato  himself.  It  is  the 
same  in  Roman  literature,  most  of  the  speeches  we 
possess  being  the  versions  given  in  historical  works, 
such  as  those  of  Livy,  Sallust  and  Tacitus,  who 
either  invented  or  modified  them  to  suit  their  own 
tastes.  Those  were  not  the  days  of  stenographic 
reporters,  and  only  those  orations  had  a  fair  chance 
of  future  existence  which  were  written  out  carefully 
by  the  orators  themselves.  Of  extemporaneous 
speakers,  the  historical  recorders  may  have  given  the 
burden  of  what  they  said,  but  scarcely  the  verbal 
form.  In  the  case  of  the  most  famous  orators,  how- 
ever,— including  Lysias,  Isocrates,  Demosthenes, 
^schines,  and  some  others  of  Greece,  and  Cicero  of 
Rome, — the  orations  were  written  before  they  were 
spoken,  and  were  heedfully  preserved  as  part  of  the 
literary  productions  of  their  ^.^  ,ors.  Many  of  these 
have  come  down,  in  their  oi ,  .  nal  form  to  the  present 
time,  and  translations  of  therix  ,r/e  been  made  which 
closely  preserve  the  spirit  of  the  original.  Our  selec- 
tions are  made  from  these  translations. 

39i 


PERICLES  (495-429  B.  C) 

FOUNDER  OF  THE  SPLENDOR  OF  ATHENS 


EIRST  in  time  and  one  of  the  foremost  in  ability  of  the  great 
orators  of  Athens  stands  the  famous  Pericles,  whose  silver 
voice  and  rare  eloquence  gave  him  the  mastery  of  the  Athe- 
nian populace  during  his  life.  Under  his  hands  Athens  reached  its 
height  of  splendor  in  architecture  and  art,  the  unrivaled  Parthenon, 
adorned  as  it  was  by  the  sculptures  of  Phidias,  being  the  noblest  exam- 
ple of  his  conceptions.  As  an  orator  he  had  no  rival  in  the  Athens  of 
his  day,  his  graceful  figure,  mellifluous  voice,  and  complete  self-com- 
mand enabling  him  to  sway  his  audiences  at  will.  Supreme  as  was 
his  power,  he  used  it  solely  for  the  benefit  of  the  city  and  its  populace, 
being  sober  and  recluse  in  habit,  -'  while  the  tenderest  domestic  attach- 
ment bound  him  to  the  engaging  and  cultivated  Aspasia." 

THE  DEAD  WHO  FELL  FOR  ATHENS 

[Of  the  oratory  of  Pericles  we  possess  only  the  famous  example  which  Thucy- 
dides,  the  historian,  has  preserved  for  us,  the  long  funeral  oration  over  those  who  died 
in  battle  in  431  B.  C,  the  first  year  of  the  destructive  Peloponnesian  War.  How  closely 
this  repeats  the  words  of  the  orator  it  is  now  impossible  to  tell.  The  speech  opens  with 
a  laudation  of  the  glory  and  progress  of  Athens,  for  which  the  soldiers  are  given 
credit,  and  continues  with  an  eulogy  of  their  merits.] 

We  are  happy  in  a  form  of  government  which  cannot  envy  the  laws 
of  our  neighbors — for  it  has  served  as  a  model  to  others,  but  is  original  at 
Athens.  And  this  our  form,  as  committed  not  to  the  few,  but  to  the 
whole  body  of  the  people,  is  called  a  democracy.  How  different  soever 
in  a  private  capacity,  we  all  enjoy  the  same  general  equality  our  laws  are 
fitted  to  preserve;  and  superior  honors  just  as  we  excel.  The  public 
admiration  is  not  confined  to  a  particular  family,  but  is  attainable  only  by 
merit.  Poverty  is  not  a  hindrance,  since  whoever  is  able  to  serve  his 
country  meets  with  no  obstacle  to  preferment  from  his  first   obscurity. 

396 


396  PERICLES 

The  ofl&ces  of  the  State  we  go  through  without  obstructions  from  one 
another;  and  live  together  in  the  mutual  endearments  of  private  life 
without  suspicions  ;  not  angry  with  a  neighbor  for  following  the  bent  of 
his  own  humor,  nor  putting  on  that  countenance  of  discontent  which 
pains  though  it  cannot  punish — so  that  in  private  life  we  converse  without 
diffidence  or  damage,  while  we  dare  not  on  any  account  offend  against  the 
public,  through  the  reverence  we  bear  to  the  magistrates  and  the  laws, 
chiefly  to  those  enacted  for  redress  of  the  injured,  and  to  those  unwritten, 
a  breach  of  which  is  thought  a  disgrace. 

Our  laws  have  further  provided  for  the  mind  most  frequent  inter- 
missions of  care  by  the  appointment  of  public  recreations  and  sacrifices 
throughout  the  year,  elegantly  performed  with  a  peculiar  pomp,  the  daily 
delight  of  which  is  a  charm  that  puts  melancholy  to  flight.  The  grandeur 
of  this  our  Athens  causes  the  produce  of  the  whole  earth  to  be  imported 
here,  by  which  we  reap  a  familiar  enjoyment,  not  more  of  the  delicacies  of 
our  own  growth  than  of  those  of  other  nations  .... 

That  we  deserve  our  power  we  need  no  evidence  to  manifest.  We 
have  great  and  signal  proofs  of  this,  which  entitle  us  to  the  admiration  of 
the  present  and  future  ages.  We  want  no  Homer  to  be  the  herald  of  our 
praise ;  no  poet  to  deck  off  a  history  with  the  charms  of  verse,  where  the 
opinion  of  exploits  must  suffer  by  a  strict  relation.  Every  sea  has  been 
opened  by  our  fleets,  and  every  land  has  been  penetrated  by  our  armies, 
which  has  everywhere  left  behind  them  eternal  monuments  of  our  enmity 
and  our  friendship. 

In  the  just  defence  of  such  a  State,  these  victims  of  their  own  valor, 
scorning  the  ruin  threatened  to  it,  have  valiantly  fought  and  bravely  died. 
And  every  one  of  those  who  survive  is  ready,  I  am  persuaded,  to  sacrifice 
life  in  such  a  cause.     And  for  this  reason  have  I  enlarged  so  much  oi 
national  points,  to  give  the  clearest  proof  that  in  the  present  war  w< 
have  more  at  stake  than  men  whose  public  advantages  are  not  so  valua-j 
ble,  and  to  illustrate,  by  actual  evidence,  how  great  a  commendation 
due  to  them  who  are  now  my  subject,  and  the  greatest  part  of  which  the] 
have  already  received.     For  the  encomiums  with  which  I  have  celebrate 
the  State  have  been  earned  for  it  by  the  bravery  of  these,  and  of  men  like 
these.     And  such  compliments  might  be  thought  too  high  and  exagger-1 
ated  if  passed  on  any  Grecians  but  them  alone.     The  fatal  period  to  which 
these  gallant  souls  are  now  reduced,  is  the  surest  evidence  of  their  merit 
— an  evidence  begun  in  their  lives  and  completed  in  their  deaths.     For  it^» 
is  a  debt  of  justice  to  pay  superior  honors  to  men  who  have  devoted  theii^Hj 
lives  to  fighting  for  their  country,  though  inferior  to  others  in  every  virtue 
but  that  of  valor. 


I 


WU  TING  FANG  AMBASSADOR  AND  ORATOR 
A  most  polished  speaker  greatly  in  demand  by  large  audiences. 
Until  recently  he  was  Ambassador  from  China  to  the  United 
States.    He  is  most  versatile  in  his  intellectual  powers. 


PERICLES  897 

Their  last  service  effaces  all  former  demerits — it  extends  to  the  public; 
their  private  demeanors  reached  only  to  a  few.  Yet  not  one  of  these  was 
at  all  induced  to  shrink  from  danger  through  fondness  for  these  delights 
which  the  peaceful  affluent  life  bestows ;  not  one  was  the  less  lavish  of  his 
life  through  that  flattering  hope  attendant  upon  want,  that  poverty  might 
at  length  be  exchanged  for  affluence.  One  passion  there  was  in  their 
minds  much  stronger  than  these — the  desire  for  vengeance  upon  their 
enemies.  Regarding  this  as  the  most  honorable  of  dangers,  they  boldly 
rushed  toward  the  mark  to  glut  revenge,  and  then  to  satisfy  those  secondary 
passions.  The  uncertain  event  they  had  already  secured  in  hope ;  what 
their  eyes  showed  plainly  must  be  done  they  trusted  to  their  own  valor  to 
accomplish,  thinking  it  more  glorious  to  defend  themselves  and  die  in  the 
attempt  than  to  yield  and  live.  From  the  reproach  of  cowardice,  indeed, 
they  fled  but  presented  their  bodies  to  the  shock  of  battle  ;  when,  insensible 
of  fear,  but  triumphing  in  hope,  in  the  doubtful  charge  they  instantly  drop- 
ped, and  thus  discharged  the  duty  which  brave  men  owe  to  their  country. 

As  for  you,  who  now  survive  them ,  it  is  your  business  to  pray  for  a  bet- 
ter fate,  but  to  think  it  your  duty  also  to  preserve  the  same  spirit  and  warmth 
of  courage  against  your  enemies  ;  not  judging  of  the  expediency  of  this 
from  a  mere  harangue — when  any  man  indulging  in  a  flow  of  words  may  tell 
you,  what  you  yourselves  know  as  well  as  he,  how  many  advantages  there 
are  in  fighting  valiantly  against  your  enemies — but  rather  making  the  daily 
increasing  grandeur  of  the  community  the  object  of  your  thoughts.  And 
when  it  really  appears  great  to  your  apprehensions,  think  again  that  this 
grandeur  was  acquired  by  brave  and  valiant  men  ;  by  men  who  knew 
their  duty  and  in  the  moment  of  action  were  sensible  of  shame,  who  when- 
ever their  attempts  were  unsuccessful,  thought  it  dishonor  their  country 
should  stand  in  need  of  anything  their  valor  could  do  for  it,  and  so  made 
it  the  most  glorious  present. 

Bestowing  thus  their  lives  upon  the  public,  they  have  every  one 
received  a  praise  that  will  never  decay,  a  sepulchre  that  will  always  be 
most  illustrious — not  that  in  which  their  bones  lie  moldering,  but  that 
in  which  their  fame  is  preserved,  to  be  on  every  occasion,  when  honor  is 
the  display  of  either  word  or  act,  eternally  remembered.  This  whole 
earth  is  the  sepulchre  of  illustrious  men. 


LYSIAS  (458-378  B.C) 

THE  FATHER  OF  NATURAL  ORATORY 


mHERE  was  abundant  oratory  before  the  days  of  Lysias,  but  he 
stands  first  among  the  ancient  orators  whose  works  still  exist, 
otherwise  than  in  fragments.  Thucydides  gives  us  in  his  his- 
tory orations  attributed  to  Pericles  and  others,  but  these  may  have 
been  largely  the  work  of  his  own  hand.  The  dying  speech  of  Socrates 
comes  to  us  only  in  Plato's  works,  and  we  do  not  know  that  it  was  not  of 
his  own  invention.  But  of  the  orations  of  Lysias  thirty-five  still 
exist — some  perhaps  spurious,  but  most  of  them  doubtless  his  own. 
The  great  credit  of  Lysias  is  that  he  broke  away  from  the  artificial  man- 
ner of  the  previous  schools  of  oratory,  and  developed  a  new,  forcible 
and  natural  manner.  The  diction  of  Lysias  is  eminently  graceful, 
pure  and  conspicuous.  "  He  resembles,''  says  Quintilian,  ''  rather  a 
pure  fountain  than  a  great  river."  He  employs  only  the  simplest 
language,  yet  has  the  happy  art  of  giving  to  every  subject  treated  an 
air  of  dignity  and  importance.  As  a  rule,  however,  he  excels  in  ele- 
gance and  persuasion,  rather  than  in  vigor  of  declamation  ;  though  this 
is  not  the  case  in  the  example  quoted.  Lysias  was  born  at  Athens,  the] 
most  celebrated  city  of  Greece,  about  458  B.  C.  He  traveled  amon^ 
other  Grecian  cities  and  the  Grecian  colonies  of  the  Mediterranean. 
During  his  travels  he  studied  rhetoric  and  oratory. 

THE  CRIMES  OF  ERATOSTHENES 

[The  great  sum  of  the  orations  of  Lysias  relate  to  private  matters.  Of  those  [ 
extant  only  one  is  on  a  public  theme,  the  arraignment  of  Eratosthenes.  The  occasion 
of  this  may  be  briefly  stated.  Lysias,  after  residing  for  years  in  Italy,  returned  to 
Athens,  which  was  then  under  the  rule  of  what  are  known  in  history  as  the  Thirty 
Tyrants.  He  and  his  brother  opposed  these  civic  magnates,  the  result  being  that  his, 
brother  was  executed,  and  he  had  to  fly  for  his  life.  After  these  tyrants  were  expelled  \ 
he  returned  to  Athens  and  became  a  composer  of  orations  for  others.     Eratosthenes, 

398 


LYSIAS  399 

One  of  the  expelled  tyrants,  returned  and  asked  amnesty  from  the  court.  During  the 
trial  Lysias  came  into  Court  and  denounced  the  assassin  of  his  brother  in  a  burst  of 
simple  and  passionate  eloquence,  which  must  have  had  a  great  effect  on  his  hearers. 
In  this  he  first  broke  from  the  stilted  manner  previously  existing  into  his  natural  later 
style  of  speech.     We  give  an  illustrative  passage  from  this  oration.] 

It  is  an  easy  matter,  O  Athenians,  to  begin  this  accusation.  But  to 
end  it  without  doing  injustice  to  the  cause  will  be  attended  with  no  small 
difficulty.  For  the  crimes  of  Eratosthenes  are  not  only  too  atrocious  to 
describe,  but  too  many  to  enumerate.  No  exaggeration  can  exceed,  and 
within  the  time  assigned  for  this  discourse  it  is  impossible  fully  to  repre- 
sent them.  This  trial,  too,  is  attended  with  another  singularity.  In 
other  causes  it  is  usual  to  ask  the  accusers  :  '  *  What  is  your  resentment 
against  the  defendants  ?  ' '  But  here  you  must  ask  the  defendant :  ' '  What 
was  your  resentment  against  your  country  ?  What  malice  did  you  bear 
your  fellow-citizens  ?  Why  did  you  rage  with  unbridled  fury  against  the 
State  itself?  " 

The  time  has  now  indeed  come,  Athenians,  when,  insensible  to  pity 
and  tenderness,  you  must  be  armed  with  just  severity  against  Kratos- 
thenes  and  his  associates.  What  avails  it  to  have  conquered  them  in  the 
field,  if  you  be  overcome  by  them  in  your  councils  ?  Do  not  show  them 
more  favor  for  what  they  boast  they  will  perform,  than  resentment  for 
what  they  have  already  committed.  Nor,  after  having  been  at  so  much 
pains  to  become  masters  of  their  persons,  allow  them  to  escape  without 
suffering  that  punishment  which  you  once  sought  to  inflict ;  but  prove 
yourselves  worthy  of  that  good  fortune  which  has  given  you  power  over 
your  enemies. 

The  contest  is  very  unequal  between  Eratosthenes  and  you.  Formerly 
he  was  both  judge  and  accuser  ;  but  we,  even  while  we  accuse,  must  at  the 
same  time  make  our  defense.  Those  who  were  innocent  he  put  to  death 
without  trial.  To  those  who  are  guilty  we  allow  the  benefit  of  law,  even 
though  no  adequate  punishment  can  ever  be  inflicted.  For  should  we 
sacrifice  them  and  their  children,  would  this  compensate  for  the  murder 
of  your  fathers,  your  sons,  and  your  brothers  ?  Should  we  deprive  them 
of  their  property,  would  this  indemnify  the  individuals  whom  they  have 
beggared,  or  the  State  which  they  have  plundered  ?  Though  they  cannot 
suffer  a  punishment  adequate  to  their  demerit,  they  ought  not,  surely,  on 
this  account,  to  escape.  Yet  how  matchless  is  the  effrontery  of  Eratos- 
thenes, who,  being  now  judged  by  the  very  persons  whom  he  formerly 
injured,  still  ventures  to  make  his  defense  before  the  witnesses  of  his 
crimes  ?  What  can  show  more  evidently  the  contempt  in  which  he  holds 
you,  or  the  confidence  which  he  reposes  in  others  ? 


400  LYSIAS 

Let  me  now  conclude  with  laying  before  you  the  miseries  to  which 
you  were  reduced,  that  you  may  see  the  necessity  of  taking  punishment 
on  the  authors  of  them.  And  first,  you  who  remained  in  the  city,  con- 
sider the  severity  of  their  government.  You  were  reduced  to  such  a  situa- 
tion as  to  be  forced  to  carry  on  a  war,  in  which,  if  you  were  conquered, 
you  partook  indeed  of  the  same  liberty  with  the  conquerors  ;  but  if  you 
proved  victorious,  you  remained  under  the  slavery  of  your  magistrates. 
As  to  you  of  the  Piraeus,*  you  will  remember  that  though  you  never  lost 
your  arms  in  the  battles  which  you  fought,  yet  you  suffered  by  these  men 
what  your  foreign  enemies  could  never  accomplish,  and  at  home,  in  times 
of  peace,  were  disarmed  by  your  fellow-citizens.  By  them  you  were  ban- 
ished from  the  country  left  you  by  your  fathers.  Their  rage,  knowing  no 
abatement,  pursued  you  abroad,  and  drove  you  from  one  territory  to 
another.  Recall  the  cruel  indignities  which  you  suffered  ;  how  you  were 
dragged  from  the  tribunal  and  the  altars  ;  how  no  place,  however  sacred, 
could  shelter  you  against  their  violence.  Others,  torn  from  their  wives, 
their  children,  their  parents,  after  putting  an  end  to  their  miserable  lives, 
were  deprived  of  funeral  rites  ;  for  these  tyrants  imagined  their  govern- 
ment to  be  so  firmly  established  that  even  the  vengeance  of  the  gods  was 
unable  to  shake  it. 

But  it  is  impossible  for  one,  or  in  the  course  of  one  trial,  to  enumerate 
the  means  which  were  employed  to  undermine  the  power  of  this  State,  the 
arsenals  which  were  demolished,  the  temples  sold  or  profaned,  the  citizens 
banished  or  murdered,  and  those  whose  dead  bodies  were  impiously  left 
uninterred.  Those  citizens  now  watch  your  decree,  uncertain  whether 
you  will  prove  accomplices  of  their  death  or  avengers  of  their  murder,  I 
shall  desist  from  any  further  accusations.  You  have  heard,  you  have 
seen ,  you  have  experienced.     Decide  then  1 


♦The  port  of  Athens. 


4 


ISOCRATES  (436-338  B.  C) 

ATHENS'  SILVER-TONGUED  ORATOR 


m SOCRATES  lived  at  the  same  time  with  Lysias  and  rivalled 
him  in  fame,  his  style  resembling  that  of  Lysias  in  purity  and 
correctness,  though  it  is  more  round  and  full  in  its  periods, 
while  his  orations  have  a  power  in  their  full  stream  of  harmonious 
diction  which  is  found  in  no  earlier  work  of  rhetoric.  The  ancient 
estimate  of  his  powers  is  shown  by  the  statue  of  a  siren  erected  in 
his  tomb,  in  indication  of  his  sweetness.  Like  his  fellow  orators,  his 
speeches  were  not  extemporaneous,  but  were  elaborated  with  great 
care.  He  is  said  to  have  spent  ten  years  in  composing  and  polishing 
one  oration.  Of  his  productions,  twenty-one  are  extant.  He  opened 
a  school  of  oratory  at  Athens,  and  numbered  among  his  pupils  many 
men  of  later  prominence.  He  lived  to  be  ninety-eight  years  of  age,  and 
died  then  from  voluntary  starvation,  occasioned  by  his  grief  at  the  fatal 
\  battle  in  which  Philip  of  Macedon  overthrew  the  power  of  Athens. 

FLATTERY  MORE  POWERFUL  THAN  TRUTH 

[The  orations  of  Isocrates  may  be  classified  as  didactic,  persuasive,  laudatory, 

and  forensic.     We  select  from  Dinsdale's   translation,  a  passage  illustrative  of  his 

method.     It  may  be  said  further  that  his  weak  voice  and  natural  timidity  prevented 

I  him  from  becoming  a  public  speaker  himself,  his  orations  being  written  for  others,  or 

for  delivery  by  chosen  speakers  on  important  political  occasions.  J 

Those  who  come  hither  are  used  to  say  that  those  things  which  they 
are  going  to  speak  of  are  of  the  noblest  nature,  and  worthy  the  city's 
utmost  attention  ;  but  if  there  ever  was  a  time  when  this  might  be  said  of 
any  affairs,  methinks  that  I  now  handle  deserves  such  an  exordium.  We 
are  assembled  to  deliberate  about  peace  and  war,  which  are  of  the  highest 
importance  in  human  life  ;  and  those  who  consult  maturely  are  more  suc- 
cessful than  others.  The  importance,  therefore,  of  our  present  subject  is 
of  this  high  nature. 
J  26  401 


402  ISOCRATES 

Now  I  have  frequently  observed  that  you  make  a  great  difference 
between  orators,  and  are  attentive  to  some  but  cannot  suffer  the  voice  of 
others.  This  is  in  reality  no  just  wonder,  for  in  former  times  you  used 
to  reject  all  such  as  did  not  flatter  your  inclinations  ;  which,  I  think, 
deserves  an  impartial  blame  ;  for,  though  you  know  many  private  houses 
'have  been  entirely  ruined  by  flatteries,  and  detest  such  persons  as  in  their 
private  affairs  conduct  themselves  in  this  manner  ;  yet  you  are  not  dis- 
posed yourselves  in  the  same  manner  in  regard  of  the  public  amendment, 
but,  finding  fault  with  the  censor,  and  taking  pleasure  in  flatteries,  you 
seem  to  put  more  confidence  in  such  than  in  other  citizens.  And  you  your- 
selves have  been  a  cause  that  the  orators  study  and  meditate  not  so  much 
what  will  be  beneficial  to  the  State,  as  what  will  please  your  hope  and 
expectation,  for  which  a  crowd  of  them  is  now  flocked  together ;  as  it  is 
evident  to  all  that  you  take  more  pleasure  in  those  who  exhort  you  to 
war  than  to  such  as  give  you  more  peaceable  counsels. 

You  have  met  to  choose,  as  it  becomes  you,  the  wisest  measures  ;  and 
though  you  do  not  know  what  is  best  to  be  done,  yet  you  will  hear  none 
but  such  as  flatter  you.  But  if  you  truly  have  the  State's  good  at  heart, 
you  ought  rather  to  be  attentive  to  those  who  oppose  your  sentiments, 
than  to  such  as  fall  in  with  your  humors  and  weaknesses ;  for  you  cannot 
be  ignorant  that  those  who  practice  such  artifices  are  the  most  likely  to 
deceive  you,  since  artful  flattery  easily  closes  the  eye  to  truth  and  sincerity. 
But  you  can  never  suffer  such  prejudice  from  those  who  speak  the  plain, 
naked  truth,  for  such  cannot  persuade  you  but  by  the  clear  demonstrations 
of  utility. 

THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  GOOD  GOVERNMENT 

[The  "  Areopagiticus  "  is  one  of  the  public  discourses  of  Isocrates  in  which  he 
deals  with  the  home  affairs  of  Athens.  We  offer  the  following  extract,  in  which  the 
good  government  of  the  past  is  offered  as  an  example  for  the  future.] 

Such  was  the  authority  to  which,  as  I  have  said,  they  entrusted  the^ 
maintenance  of  good  order,  which  considered  that  those  were  in  error  wh^ 
imagined  that  a  community  in  which  the  laws  were  framed  with 
greatest  exactness  produced  the  best  men.  For,  if  this  were  so,  thei 
could  be  nothing  to  prevent  all  the  Hellenes*  being  on  the  same  level, 
far  as  the  facility  of  adopting  one  another's  written  laws  is  concerns 
They,  on  the  contrary,  knew  that  virtue  is  not  promoted  by  the  laws,  bi 
by  the  habits  of  daily  life,  and  that  most  people  turn  out  men  of  lil 
character  to  those  in  whose  midst  they  have  severally  been  brought  upl 
For,  where  there  are  a  number  of  laws  drawn  up  with  great  exactitude,  ij 

*The  Greeks — so  called  because  they  are  believed  to  be  descended  from.'  a  mythical  persons 
named  Hellen. 


I 


ISOCRATES  403 

is  a  proof  that  the  city  is  badly  administered,  for  the  inhabitants  are  com- 
pelled to  frame  laws  in  great  numbers  as  a  barrier  against  offenses. 

Those,  however,  who  are  rightly  governed  should  not  cover  the  walls 
of  the  porticoes  with  copies  of  the  laws,  but  preserve  justice  in  their  hearts  ; 
for  it  is  not  by  decrees  but  by  manners  that  cities  are  well  governed,  and 
while  those  who  have  been  badly  brought  up  will  venture  to  transgress 
laws  drawn  up  even  with  the  greatest  exactitude,  those  who  have  been 
well  educated  will  be  ready  to  abide  by  laws  framed  in  the  simplest  terms. 
With  these  ideas,  they  did  not  first  consider  how  they  should  punish  the 
disorderly,  but  by  what  means  they  should  induce  them  to  refrain  from 
committing  any  offense  deserving  of  punishment,  for  they  considered  that 
this  was  their  mission,  but  that  eagerness  to  inflict  punishment  was  a 
matter  of  malevolence. 

THE  BASIS  OF  A  VIRTUOUS  LIFE 

[The  following  extract  is  from  the  oration  or  letter  to  a  young  man,  named 
Demonicus.     It  has  been  much  admired  for  its  high  standard  of  conduct.] 

In  the  first  place  show  your  gratitude  to  Heaven,  not  only  by  sacri- 
fices, but  by  a  steady  veracity  and  sacred  observance  of  all  leagues  and 
oaths.  The  first  indeed  shows  splendor  and  gratitude,  but  the  latter  only 
a  truly  noble,  godlike  mind.  Be  such  toward  your  parents  as  you  would 
hope  your  children  should  be  toward  you.  Use  exercise  rather  for  health 
than  strength  and  beauty.  You  will  best  attain  these  if  you  leave  it  off 
before  nature  is  fatigued. 

Be  not  austere  and  gloomy,  but  serene  and  brave.  By  the  first  be- 
havior you  would  be  thought  proud  ;  but  by  the  latter  will  be  esteemed  a 
man  of  worth  and  credit.  Never  imagine  you  can  conceal  a  bad  action  ; 
for  though  you  hide  it  from  others,  your  own  conscience  will  condemn 
you.  Be  good,  and  have  your  own  approbation.  Be  persuaded  that  every 
base  action  will  at  last  take  air. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  man  to  improve  his  knowledge,  will  and  under- 
standing. It  is  as  great  a  shame  to  hear  national,  instructive  discourse, 
and  not  be  attentive  to  it,  as  it  is  to  reject  with  scorn  a  valuable  gift. 
Think  philosophy  a  greater  treasure  than  immense  sums  of  gold,  for  gold 
is  apt  to  take  wings  and  fly  away,  but  philosophy  and  virtue  are  inalien- 
able possessions.     Wisdom  is  the  only  immortal  inheritance. 


DEMOSTHENES  (382-322  B.C) 

THE  PARAGON  OF  ORATORS 


WHEN  Greece,  as  a  land  of  independent  states,  the  nursery  of 
liberty  and  freedom  of  speech,  was  on  the  verge  of  falling 
"^  before  the  arts  and  arms  of  Philip  of  Macedon,  Demosthenes,  a 
native  of  Athens,  arose,  and  in  a  succession  of  orations  of  unequalled 
eloquence  exposed  the  designs  of  the  enemy  of  Grecian  liberty,  and 
sought  to  arouse  his  countrymen  to  meet  their  new  foeman  as  they 
had  met  the  Persians  of  old.  Several  other  orators  of  Athens  were 
bribed  by  Phihp's  gold,  but  the  patriotism  of  Demosthenes  was  proof 
against  venality.  With  watchful  sagacity  he  penetrated  the  designs  of 
the  cunning  Macedonian,  and  if  the  generals  of  Athens  had  been  equal 
in  ability  to  their  orator,  the  freedom  of  Greece  would  have  been  pre- 
served. There  were  eleven  or  twelve  of  these  great  patriotic  orations ; 
of  which  four  are  especially  known  as  ''  Philippics."  The  persistent 
opposition  of  Demosthenes  against  the  foes  of  Greece,  in  the  end  led 
to  his  death.  His  last  effort  for  liberty  failing,  he  was  pursued  b^ 
his  enemies  and  sought  an  asylum  in  the  temple  of  Neptune  on  tl 
island  of  Calaurea.    There,  still  followed,  he  took  poison  and  died. 

As  an  orator  Demosthenes  was  superb.    Yet  his  first  effort  at  publi 
speaking  was  an  utter  failure.     Feeble  in  frame,  weak  in  voice,  shj 
and   awkward    in   manner,    and   ungraceful   in   gesture,  he  seem( 
strikingly  ill-fitted  for  success  upon  the  forum.     But  he  had  industi 
intelligence  and  determination,  and  success  came  to  him.    He  strengtl 
ened  his  lungs  and  his  voice  by  declaiming  while  climbing  steep  hil] 
or  seeking  to  raise  his  voice  above  the  roar  of  the  sea.     His  natui 
defect  in  delivery  was  overcome  by  the  practice  of  speaking  with  pel 
bles  in  his  mouth.     He  learned  the  art  of  graceful  gesture  by  pra« 
ticing  before  a  mirror.     Constant  study,  composition  of  orations,  ai 

404 


DEMOSTHENES  405 

memorizing  made  him  ready  and  fluent  in  speech.  Never  trusting 
to  facility  in  extemporaneous  delivery,  he  carefully  prepared  all  his  ora- 
tions, and  then  delivered  them  with  the  utmost  force  and  effective- 
ness. They  remain  to-day  models  of  oratory,  closely  studied  by  all 
who  would  excel  in  the  art.  "  His  style,"  sa}  s  Hume,  "  is  rapid  harm- 
ony exactly  adjusted  to  the  sense;  it  is  vehement  reasoning  without 
any  appearance  of  art ;  it  is  disdain,  anger,  boldness,  freedom,  involved 
in  a  continued  stream  of  argument ;  and  of  all  human  productions 
his  orations  present  the  models  which  approach  the  nearest  to  perfec- 
tion.'^  Fenelon  says:  "  We  think  not  of  his  words  ;  we  think  only  of 
the  things  he  says.  He  lightens,  he  thunders,  he  is  a  torrent  which 
sweeps  everything  before  it.  We  can  neither  criticise  nor  admire, 
because  we  have  not  the  command  of  our  own  faculties."  Lord 
Brougham  says  :  ''  There  is  not  any  long  or  close  train  of  reasoning 
in  Demosthenes ;  still  less  any  profound  observations  or  ingenious 
allusions ;  but  a  constant  succession  of  remarks  bearing  immediately 
upon  the  matter  in  hand,  perfectly  plain,  and  as  readily  admit- 
ted as  easily  understood.  These  are  intermingled  with  most  striking 
appeals  :  some  to  feelings  which  we  are  all  conscious  of  and  deeply 
agitated  by,  though  ashamed  to  own  ;  some  to  sentiments,  which 
every  man  was  panting  to  utter,  and  delighted  to  hear  thundered 
forth ;  bursts  of  oratory,  therefore,  which  either  overwhelmed  or 
delighted  the  audience.  Such  hits,  if  we  may  use  a  homely  phrase, 
are  the  principal  glory  of  the  great  combatant." 

PHILIP  THE  ENEMY  OF  ATHENS 
[As  an  example  of  the  Philippics  we  offer  the   following  brief  extract,  in  which 
the  orator  strongly  points  out  the  position  of  Athens,  as  affected  by  the  designs  of  its 
artful  enemy.] 

There  are  persons  among  you,  O  Athenians,  who  think  to  confound 
a  speaker  by  asking,  **  What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?  "  To  which  I  might 
answer :  ' '  Nothing  that  you  are  doing — everything  that  you  leave 
undone !  "  And  it  would  be  a  just  and  a  true  reply.  But  I  will  be 
more  explicit ;  and  may  these  men,  so  ready  to  question,  be  equally  ready 
to  act !  In  the  first  place,  Athenians,  admit  the  incontestable  fact,  that 
Philip  has  broken  your  treaties,  that  he  has  declared  war  against  you. 
L,et  us  have  no  more  crimination  and  recrimination  on  this  point  !  And, 
then,  recognize  the  fact  that  he  is  the  mortal  enemy  of  Athens, — of  its 
very  soil,  of  all  within  its  walls,  ay,  of  those  even  who  most  flatter  them- 
selves that  they  are  high  in  his  good  graces. 


406  ,  DEMOSTHENES 

What  Philip  most  dreads  and  abhors  is  our  liberty,  our  Democratic 
system.  For  the  destruction  of  that  all  his  snares  are  laid,  all  his  projects 
are  shaped.  And  in  this  is  he  not  consistent  ?  He  is  well  aware  that, 
though  he  should  subjugate  all  the  rest  of  Greece,  his  conquest  would  be 
insecure  while  your  Democrac}^  stands.  He  knows  that,  should  he 
experience  one  of  those  reverses  to  which  the  lot  of  humanity  is  so  liable, 
it  would  be  into  your  arms  that  all  those  nations,  now  forcibly  held  under 
his  yoke,  would  rush.  Is  there  a  tyrant  to  be  driven  back  ? — Athens  is 
in  the  field  !  Is  there  a  people  to  be  enfranchised  ? — Lo,  Athens,  prompt 
to  aid  !  What  wonder,  then,  that  Philip  should  be  impatient  while 
Athenian  liberty  is  a  spy  upon  his  evil  days  !  Be  sure,  O  my  country- 
men, that  he  is  your  irreconcilable  foe  ;  that  it  is  against  Athens  that  he 
musters  and  disposes  all  his  armaments  ;  against  Athens  that  all  his 
schemes  are  laid. 

What,  then,  ought  you,  as  wise  men,  convinced  of  these  truths,  to  do  ? 
You  ought  to  shake  off  your  fatal  lethargy,  contribute  according  to  your 
means,  summon  your  allies  to  contribute,  and  take  measures  to  retain  the 
troops  already  under  arms ;  so  that,  if  Philip  has  an  army  prepared  to  attack 
and  subjugate  all  the  Greeks,  you  may  also  have  one  ready  to  succor  and 
to  save  them.  Tell  me  not  of  the  trouble  and  expense  which  this  will 
involve.  I  grant  it  all.  But  consider  the  dangers  that  menace  you,  and_ 
how  much  you  will  be  the  gainers  by  engaging  heartily,  at  once,  in  th< 
general  cause.  Indeed,  should  some  god  assure  you  that,  however  inac^ 
tive  and  unconcerned  you  might  remain,  yet,  in  the  end,  you  should  noj 
be  molested  by  Philip,  still  it  would  be  ignominious, — be  witm 
Heaven  ! — it  would  be  beneath  you,  beneath  the  dignity  of  your  State 
beneath  the  glory  of  your  ancestors,  to  sacrifice,  to  your  own  selfisl 
repose,  the  interest  of  all  the  rest  of  Greece. 

Rather  would  I  perish  than  recommend  such  a  course  !  Let  some 
other  man  urge  it  upon  you,  if  he  will  ;  and  listen  to  him,  if  you  can. 
But,  if  my  sentiments  are  yours;  if  you  foresee,  as  I  do,  that  the  more  we 
leave  Philip  to  extend  his  conquests,  the  more  we  are  fortifying  an  enemy, 
whom,  sooner  or  later,  we  must  cope  with  ;  why  do  you  hesitate  ?  What 
necessity  do  you  wait  ?  Can  there  be  a  greater  for  freemen  than  the  pros- 
pect of  dishonor  ?  Do  you  wait  for  that  ?  It  is  here  already  ;  it  presses,} 
it  weighs  on  us  now.  Now,  did  I  say  ?  Long  since,  long  since,  w£ 
it  before  us,  face  to  face.  True,  there  is  still  another  necessity  in  reserve^ 
the  necessity  of  slaves,  blows  and  stripes  !  Wait  you  for  the77if  The 
gods  forbid  !     The  very  words,  in  this  place,  are  an  indignity  ! 

— (The  most  famous  oration  of  Demosthenes  was  one   that  had 
personal  origin,  it  being  called  forth  by  a  controversy  with  ^Eschineg 


DEMOSTHENES  407 

an  able  rival  orator  who  had  been  suborned  by  Philip,  and  was  a  bitter 
enemy  of  Demosthenes.  We  append  below  a  selection  from  this 
celebrated  speech.) — 

ON  THE  CROWN 

[The  occasion  of  this  speech  on  the  crown  may  be  briefly  stated.  In  338  B.C., 
was  fought  the  disastrous  battle  of  Chseronea,  in  which  the  Athenians  met  the  Mace- 
donians in  arms  and  were  decisively  defeated.  Among  the  fugitives  from  the  field 
was  Demosthenes,  who  had  fought  as  well  as  talked  against  Philip.  On  his  return  to 
Athens  he  found  himself  the  ruling  power  in  the  state,  and  Ctesiphon,  one  of  his 
admirers,  proposed  that  the  people  should  reward  him  for  his  eminent  services  by  a 
crown  of  gold.*  The  giving  of  this  crown  was  opposed  by  ^schines  in  a  speech  of 
great  power  and  vehemence.  Demosthenes'  answer  was  the  supreme  effort  of  his 
life,  the  most  perfect  masterpiece  of  oratory  ever  produced.] 

lyCt  me  begin,  Men  of  Athens,  by  imploring  of  all  the  Heavenly 
Powers,  that  the  same  kindly  sentiments  which  I  have,  throughout  my 
public  life,  cherished  towards  this  country  and  each  of  you,  may  now  by 
you  be  shown  towards  me  in  the  present  contest !  In  two  respects  my 
adversary  plainly  has  the  advantage  of  me.  First,  we  have  not  the  same 
interests  at  stake  ;  it  is  by  no  means  the  same  thing  for  me  to  forfeit  your 
esteem,  and  for  ^schines,  an  unprovoked  volunteer,  to  fail  in  his  impeach- 
ment. My  other  disadvantage  is,  the  natural  proneness  of  men  to  lend  a 
pleased  attention  to  invective  and  accusation,  but  to  give  little  heed  to 
him  whose  theme  is  his  own  vindication 

A  wicked  thing,  Athenians,  a  wicked  thing  is  a  calumniator,  ever  ; — 
querulous  and  industrious  in  seeking  pretense  of  complaint.  But  this 
creature  is  despicable  by  nature,  and  incapable  of  any  trace  of  generous 
and  noble  deeds  ;  ape  of  a  tragedian,  third-rate  actor,  spurious  orator  ! 
For  what,  ^schines,  does  your  eloquence  profit  the  country?  You  now 
descant  upon  what  is  past  and  gone — as  if  a  physician,  when  called  to 
patients  in  a  sinking  state,  should  give  no  advice,  nor  prescribe  any  course 
by  which  the  disease  might  be  cured  ;  but,  after  one  of  them  had  died,  and 
the  last  officers  were  performing  to  his  remains,  should  follow  him  to  the 
grave,  and  expound  how  the  poor  man  never  would  have  died  had  such 
and  such  things  only  been  done.  Lunatic  !  is  it  now  that  at  length 
you  too  speak  out  ?  .    .    .    . 

As  to  the  defeat,  that  incident  in  which  you  so  exult  (wretch  !  who 
should  rather  mourn  for  it), — look  through  my  whole  conduct,  and  you 
shall  find  nothing  there  that  brought  down  this  calamity  on  my  coun- 
try.    Consider  only,  Athenians  :  Never,  from  any  embassy  upon  which  you 

*  The  crown  here  indicated  (Latin,  corona)  was  a  wreath,  garland,  or  any  ornamental  fillet  encircl- 
ing the  head,  bestowed  as  a  reward  for  distinguished  public  services.— Here,  probably,  a  laurel 
wreath  of  gold  is  indicated. 


408  DEMOSTHENES 

sent  me,  did  I  come  off  worsted  by  Philip's  ambassadors  ;  not  from  Thes- 
saly,  not  from  Ambracia,  not  from  Illyria,  not  from  the  Thracian  kings, 
not  from  the  Byzantians.,  nor  from  any  other  quarter  whatever, — nor  fin- 
ally, of  late,  from  Thebes.  But  wheresoever  his  negotiators  were  over- 
come in  debate,  thither  Philip  marched,  and  carried  the  day  by  his  arms. 
Do  you,  then,  exact  this  of  me,  and  are  you  not  ashamed,  at  the  moment 
you  are  upbraiding  me  for  weakness,  to  require  that  I  should  defy  him 
single-handed,  and  by  force  of  words  alone  !  For  what  other  weapons  had 
I?  Certainly  not  the  lives  of  men,  nor  the  fortune  of  warriors,  nor  the 
military  operations  of  which  you  are  so  blundering  as  to  demand  an  account 
at  my  hands. 

But  whatever  a  minister  can  be  accountable  for,  make  of  that  the 
strictest  scrutiny,  and  I  do  not  object.  What,  then,  falls  within  this 
description  ?  To  descry  events  in  their  first  beginnings,  to  cast  his  look 
forward,  and  to  warn  others  of  their  approach.  All  this  I  have  done. 
Then,  to  confine  within  the  narrowest  bounds  all  delays,  and  backward- 
ness, and  ignorance,  and  contentiousness, — faults  which  are  inherent  and 
unavoidable  in  all  States  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  promote  unanimity, 
and  friendly  dispositions,  and  zeal  in  the  performance  of  public  duty  : — 
and  all  these  things  I  likewise  did,  nor  can  any  man  point  out  any  of 
them  that,  so  far  as  depended  on  me,  was  left  undone. 

If,  then,  it  should  be  asked  by  what  means  Philip  for  the  most  part 
succeeded  in  his  operations,  every  one  would  answer,  By  his  army,  by  his, 
largesses,  by  corrupting  those  at  the  head  of  affairs.     Well,  then,  I  neithe 
had  armies,  nor  did  I  command  them  ;  and  therefore  the  argument  respect-] 
ing  military  operations  cannot  touch  me.     Nay,  in  so  far  as  I  was  inacces- 
sible to  bribes,  there  I  conquered  Philip  !     For,  as  he  who  purchases  an; 
one  overcomes  him  who  has  received  the  price  and  sold  himself,  so  he 
who  will   not   take   the   money,    nor   consent   to   be   bribed,    has  fairly 
conquered   the  bidder.     Thus,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,   this  country 
Stands  unconquered 

Under  what  circumstances,  O  Athenians  ought  the  strenuous  and 
patriotic  orator  to  appear  ?  When  the  State  is  in  jeopardy,  when  the  people 
are  at  issue  with  the  enemy,  then  it  is  that  his  vehemence  is  timely.  But 
now,  when  I  stand  clear  on  all  hands, — by  prescription,  by  judgments 
repeatedly  pronounced,  by  my  never  having  been  convicted  before  the  pe 
pie  of  any  offense, — and  when  more  or  less  of  glory  has  of  necessil 
resulted  to  the  public  from  my  course — now  it  is  that  ^schines  turns  uj 
and  attempts  to  wrest  from  me  the  honors  which  you  propose  to  bestow] 
Personal  spite  and  envy  are  at  the  bottom  of  all  his  trumped-up  chargesj] 
my  fellow -citizens  ;  and  I  proclaim  him  no  true  man. 


DEMOSTHENES  409 

Consider,  ^schines,  whether  you  are  not  in  reality  the  country's 
enemy,  while  you  pretend  to  be  only  mine.  I^et  us  look  at  the  acts  of  the 
orator  rather  than  at  the  speech.  He  who  pays  his  court  to  the  enemies  of 
the  State  does  not  cast  anchor  in  the  same  roadstead  with  the  people.  He 
looks  elsewhere  than  to  them  for  his  security.  Such  a  man — mark  me  ! 
am  not  I.  I  have  always  made  common  cause  with  the  people,  nor  have  I 
shaped  my  public  course  for  my  individual  benefit.  Q,2inyou  say  as  much  ? 
Can  you  ?  You,  who,  instantly  after  the  battle,  repaired  as  ambassador  to 
Philip,  the  author  of  all  our  calamities  ;  and  this  after  you  had  declared 
loudly,  on  previous  occasions,  against  engaging  in  any  such  commission, 
as  all  these  citizens  can  testify  ! 

What  worse  charge  can  anyone  bring  against  an  orator  than  that  his 
words  and  his  deeds  do  not  tally  ?  Yet  you  have  been  discovered  to  be 
such  a  man  ;  and  you  still  lift  your  voice  and  dare  to  look  this  assembly 
in  the  face  !  Think  you  they  do  not  know  you  for  what  you  are  ?  or  that 
such  a  slumber  and  oblivion  have  come  over  them  all  as  to  make  them  forget 
the  speeches  in  which,  with  oaths  and  imprecations,  you  disclaimed  all  deal- 
ings with  Philip,  and  declared  that  I  falsely  brought  this  charge  against 
you  from  personal  enmity  ?  And  yet,  no  sooner  was  the  advice  received 
of  that  fatal — O  !  that  fatal — battle,  than  your  asseverations  were  forgotten, 
your  connection  publicly  avowed  !  You  affected  to  have  been  Philip's 
friend  and  guest.  Such  were  the  titles  by  which  you  sought  to  dignify 
your  prostitution. 

But  read  here  the  epitaph  inscribed  by  the  State  upon  the  monument 
of  the  slain,  that  you  may  sqq  yourself  in  it,  ^schines, — unjust,  calumni- 
ous, and  profligate.     Read  ! 

"  These  were  the  brave,  unknowing  how  to  yield, 
Who,  terrible  in  valor,  kept  the  field 
A-gainst  the  foe  ;  and,  higher  than  life's  breath 
Prizing  their  honor,  met  the  doom  of  death, 
Our  common  doom — that  Greece  unyoked  might  stand, 
Nor  shuddering  crouch  beneath  a  tyrant's  hand. 
Such  was  the  will  of  Jove  ;  and  now  they  rest 
Peaceful  enfolded  in  their  country's  breast. 
The  immortal  gods  alone  are  ever  great, 
And  erring  mortals  must  submit  to  Fate." 

Do  you  hear,  ^schines  ?  It  pertains  only  to  the  gods  to  control  for- 
tune and  command  success.  To  them  the  power  of  assuring  victory  to 
armies  is  ascribed, — not  to  the  statesman ,  but  to  the  gods.  Wherefore, 
then,  execrable  wretch,  wherefore  upbraid  me  with,  what  has  happened? 
Why  denounce  against  me  what  the  just  gods  reserve  for  the  heads  of 
you  and  yours  ? 


AESCHINES  (389-314  B.C) 

THE  RIVAL  OF  DEMOSTHENES 


i 


|NE  of  the  famous  orators  of  Greece,  ^schines  by  name,  who 
especially  came  into  reputation  through  his  controversy  with 
his  great  rival,  began  his  career,  like  Demosthenes,  as  a  violent 
opponent  of  Philip  of  Macedon.  But,  after  a  visit  to  Philip's  court, 
a  change  took  place,  and  he  became  a  zealous  opponent  to  war  with 
Macedonia.  This  brought  the  two  orators  into  a  violent  verbal  con- 
test, which  began  with  a  charge  by  Demosthenes  that  ^Eschines  pre- 
ferred the  gold  of  Philip  to  the  good  of  Greece.  The  final  event  in 
this  quarrel  of  oratorical  giants  was  a  vigorous  speech  by  JEschines 
against  Ctesiphon  for  voting  Demosthenes  a  crown  of  gold,  and  the 
overwhelming  answer  of  Demosthenes.  As  a  result  of  his  defeat, 
jEschines  went  into  voluntary  exile  to  the  island  of  Rhodes,  where  he 
founded  a  very  successful  school  of  oratory. 

AGAINST  CTESIPHON 

[As  an  orator  ^schines  possessed  a  sonorous  voice  and  vigorous  manner,  witl 
fine  rhetorical  powers  and  great  felicity  of  diction.  His  orations  have  much  of  the 
force  and  fire  displayed  by  his  rival,  and  closely  approximate  those  of  Demosthenes 
in  general  character.  Of  his  extant  speeches  the  best  is  that  *'  Against  Ctesiphon." 
On  one  occasion  he  read  this  to  his  pupils  at  Rhodes,  who  were  much  surprised  that 
so  powerful  a  speech  could  fail  of  success.  He  replied,  "You  would  cease  to 
astonished  if  you  had  heard  Demosthenes."! 

When  Demosthenes  boasts  to  you,  O  Athenians,  of  his  Democratic 
zeal,  examine,  not  his  harangues,  but  his  life  ;  not  what  he  professes  t< 
be,  but  what  he  really  is  ; — redoubtable  in  words,  impotent  in  deeds  ;  plaus^j 
ible  in  speech,  perfidious  in  action.  As  to  his  courage — has  he  not  himi 
self,  before  the  assembled  people,  confessed  his  poltroonery  ?  By  the  la^ 
of  Athens,  the  man  who  refuses  to  bear  arms,  the  coward,  the  deserter  oi 
his  post  in  battle,  is  excluded  from  all  share  in  the  public  deliberations,] 
410 


I 


^SCHINES  411 

denied  admission  to  our  religious  rites,  and  rendered  incapable  of 
receiving  the  honor  of  a  crown.  Yet  now  it  is  proposed  to  crown  a 
man  whom  your  laws  expressly  disqualify  ! 

Which,  think  you,  was  the  more  worthy  citizen — Themistocles,  who 
commanded  your  fleet  when  you  vanquished  the  Persian  at  Salamis,  or 
Demosthenes  the  deserter  ? — Miltiades,  who  conquered  the  Barbarians  at 
Marathon,  or  this  hireling  traitor? — Aristides,  surnamed  the  Just,  or 
Demosthenes,  who  merits  a  far  different  surname?  By  all  the  gods  of 
Olympus,  it  is  a  profanation  to  mention  in  the  same  breath  this  monster 
and  those  great  men  !  Let  him  cite,  if  he  can,  one  among  them  all  to 
whom  a  crown  was  decreed.  And  was  Athens  ungrateful  ?  No  !  She 
was  magnanimous  ;  and  those  uncrowned  citizens  were  worthy  of  Athens. 
They  placed  their  glory,  not  in  the  letter  of  a  decree,  but  in  the  remem- 
brance of  a  country  of  which  they  had  merited  well, — in  the  living,  imper- 
ishable remembrance  ! 

And  now  a  popular  orator — the  mainspring  of  our  calamities — a 
deserter  from  the  field  of  battle,  a  deserter  from  the  city,  claims  of  us  a 
crown,  exacts  the  honor  of  a  proclamation  !  Crown  him  9  Proclaim  his 
worth  ?  My  countrymen,  this  would  not  be  to  exalt  Demosthenes,  but  to 
degrade  yourselves ;  to  dishonor  those  brave  men  who  perished  for  you 
in  battle.  Crown  htm  !  Shall  his  recreancy  win  what  was  denied  to 
their  devotion  ?  This  would  indeed  be  to  insult  the  memory  of  the  dead, 
and  to  paralyze  the  emulation  of  the  living  ! 

When  Demosthenes  tells  you  that,  as  ambassador,  he  wrested  Byzan- 
tium from  Philip  ;  that,  as  orator,  he  roused  the  Acarnanians,  and  sub- 
dued the  Thebans  ;  let  not  the  braggart  impose  on  you.  He  flatters 
himself  that  the  Athenians  are  simpletons  enough  to  believe  him  ;  as  if  in 
him  they  cherished  the  very  genius  of  persuasion,  instead  of  a  vile  calum- 
niator. But  when,  at  the  close  of  his  defense,  he  shall  summon  to  his 
aid  his  accomplices  in  corruption,  imagine  then,  O  Athenians,  that  you 
behold  at  the  foot  of  this  tribune,  from  which  I  now  address  you,  the 
great  benefactors  of  the  Republic  arrayed  against  them. 

Solon,  who  environed  our  liberty  with  the  noblest  institutions, — 
Solon,  the  philosopher,  the  mighty  legislator, — with  that  benignity  so 
characteristic,  implores  you  not  to  pay  more  regard  to  the  honeyed 
phrases  of  Demosthenes  than  to  your  own  laws.  Aristides,  who  fixed  for 
Greece  the  apportionment  of  her  contribution,  and  whose  orphan  daugh- 
ters were  dowered  by  the  people,  is  moved  to  indignation  at  this  prostitu- 
tion of  justice,  and  exclaims:  "Think  on  your  fathers  !  Arthmius  of 
Zelia  brought  gold  from  Media  into  Greece,  and,  for  the  act,  barely 
escaped  death  in  banishment ;  and  now  Demosthenes,  who  has  not  merely 


412  iESCHINES 

brought  gold,  but  who  received  it  as  the  price  of  treachery,  and  still  retains 
it, — Demosthenes  it  is  unblushingly  proposed  to  invest  with  a  golden 
crown  !  ' '  From  those  who  fell  at  Marathon  and  at  Plataea  ;  from  Them- 
istocles  ;  from  the  very  sepulchres  of  your  ancestors,  issues  the  protesting 
groan  of  condemnation  and  rebuke  !  .    .    .    . 

I  neither  envy  the  habits  of  Demosthenes  nor  blush  for  my  own  ;  nor 
would  I  retract  the  speeches  I  have  spoken  among  you  ;  nor,  had  I  spoken 
as  he  has,  would  I  be  content  to  live ;  for  my  silence,  Demosthenes,  has 
been  occasioned  by  the  simplicity  of  my  life.  I  am  satisfied  with  little, 
and  covet  not  the  dishonest  acquisition  of  more  ;  so  that  I  can  be  silent, 
and  can  speak  advisedly,  and  not  when  constrained  by  innate  extrava- 
gance ;  while  you,  I  should  say,  are  silent  when  your  hand  is  full,  and 
clamorous  when  it  is  empty,  and  speak,  not  when  you  choose,  nor  what 
you  please,  but  whenever  your  employers  instruct  you, — for  you  are 
never  ashamed  of  exaggerations  which  are  immediately  detected. 

You  censure  me  for  coming  before  the  city  not  continuously,  but  at 
intervals,  and  flatter  yourself  that  you  can  escape  detection  in  propound- 
ing this  principle,  which  is  not  of  democracy  but  a  different  form  of 
government ;  for  under  an  oligarchy  not  he  who  would,  but  he  who  has 
power,  prefers  indictments ;  but  under  a  democracy,  whoever  chooses, 
and  whenever  he  thinks  proper.  Besides,  to  appear  occasionally  in  public 
is  an  indication  of  a  policy  suggested  by  opportunity  of  advantage  ;  but  to 
make  no  intermission,  even  of  a  day,  is  the  proof  of  a  traitor  and  a  hireling. 

And  yet,  by  the  Gods  of  Olympus,  of  all  that  I  understand  Demos- 
thenes intends  to  say,  I  am  most  indignant  at  what  I  am  going  to  men- 
tion.    He  compares  my  talents,  it  seems,  to  the  Sirens,  for  their  hearers, 
(he  says)  are  not  so  much  enchanted  as  lured  to  destruction — and  hencel 
the  evil  reputation  of  their  minstrelsy.     In  like  manner  my  rhetorical] 
skill  and  abilities  prove  the  ruin  of  my  hearers.     And,  although  I  believe^ 
no  man  whatever  is  justified  in  any  such  assertion  respecting  me — for  itj 
is  discreditable  for  an  accuser  not  to  be  able  to  prove  the  truth  of  his  alle- 
gations— yet  if  the  assertion  must  be  made,  it  should  not  have  been  by^ 
Demosthenes,  but  by  some  military  commander  who  had  rendered  impor- 
tant services  to  the  state  and  was  deficient  in  eloquence  ;  and  who  there- 
fore envied  the  talents  of  his  adversaries  because  he  was  conscious  of  his| 
inability  to  proclaim  his  achievements,  while  he  saw  an  adversary  capable 
of  representing  to  his  audience  what  he  had  never  performed  as  though 
they  were  actual  achievements.     Yet  when  a  man  made  up  altogether  of] 
words — ^bitter  and  superfluously  elaborate  words — comes  back  to  the  sim- ■ 
plicity  of  facts,  who  can  tolerate  it  ?     A  man  whose  tongue,  like  that  of  th< 
flageolet,  if  you  remove,  the  rest  is  nothing. 


MARCUS  PORCIUS  CATO  (234-J49  B.  C) 

AN  EMINENT  ROMAN  ORATOR 


i 


|F  the  orators  of  Rome,  there  is  only  one,  the  far-famed  Cicero, 
whose  productions  have  come  down  to  us  in  assured  form. 
Of  the  others,  including  Caesar,  and  the  two  Catos,  we  have 
what  purport  to  be  orations  spoken  by  them,  in  the  pages  of  Livy, 
Sallust  and  other  historians.  These,  while  perhaps  not  their  exact 
words,  may  closely  approach  orations  actually  delivered  by  them. 
There  were  two  Catos,  eminent  as  orators,  who  bore  the  above  name, 
Cato,  the  Elder,  or  the  Censor,  and  his  great  grandson,  Cato,  the 
Younger.  It  is  with  the  former  that  we  are  here  concerned.  Poor 
by  birth  and  a  farmer  by  profession,  his  ability  as  an  orator,  and  his 
eminence  as  a  moclel  of  the  severer  virtues,  raised  him  through  various 
positions  to  the  office  of  consul,  and  finally  to  that  of  censor.  In  the 
latter,  his  severity  in  correcting  abuses  and  enforcing  his  principles  of 
economy  and  sobriety  made  him  many  enemies.  As  a  senator  he 
became  noted,  in  the  third  Punic  war,  for  the  famous  phrase,  Delenda 
est  Carthago  ("  Carthage  must  be  destroyed  ^'). 

WOMEN  IN  POLITICS 

[I/ivy  gives  Cato  credit  for  the  following  specimen  of  oratory,  of  interest  for  its 
peculiar  subject,  the  political  activity  of  women.  It  is  certainly  a  surprise,  with  the 
ideas  usually  entertained  of  the  seclusion  of  women  in  ancient  times,  to  find  them  as 
active  in  their  efforts  to  take  part  in  public  affairs  as  the  advocates  of  women's  rights 
of  to-day,  while  Cato  played  the  part  of  the  modern  opponents  of  these  **  rights."] 

If,  Romans,  every  individual  among  us  had  made  it  a  rule  to  maintain 
the  prerogative  and  authority  of  a  husband  with  respect  to  his  own  wife, 
we  should  have  less  trouble  with  the  whole  sex.  But  now,  our  privileges, 
overpowered  at  home  by  female  contumacy,  are,  even  here  in  the  forum, 

413 


414  MARCUS  PORCIUS   CATO 

spurned  and  trampled  under  foot ;  and  because  we  are  unable  to  withstand 
each  separately,  we  now  dread  their  collective  body.  I  was  accustomed 
to  consider  it  a  fabulous  and  fictitious  tale,  that  in  a  certain  island  the 
whole  race  of  males  was  utterly  extirpated  by  a  conspiracy  of  the 
women.  But  the  utmost  danger  may  be  apprehended  equally  from  either 
sex,  if  you  suifer  cabals  and  secret  consultations  to  be  held  ;  scarcely, 
indeed,  can  I  determine,  in  my  own  mind,  whether  the  act  itself,  or  the 
precedent  which  it  affords,  is  of  more  pernicious  tendency.  The  latter  of 
these  more  particularly  concerns  us  consuls  and  other  magistrates  ;  the 
former,  you  my  fellow-citizens :  for  whether  the  measure  proposed  to  your 
consideration  be  profitable  to  the  State  or  not  is  to  be  determined  by  you, 
who  are  to  vote  on  the  occasion. 

As  to  the  outrageous  behavior  of  these  women,  whether  it  be  merely 
an  act  of  their  own,  or  owing  to  your  instigations,  Marcus  Fundanius  and 
lyUcius  Valerius,  it  unquestionably  implies  culpable  conduct  in  magis- 
trates. I  know  not  whether  it  reflects  greater  disgrace  on  you,  tribunes, 
or  on  the  consuls  ;  on  you,  certainly,  if  you  have  brought  these  women 
hither  for  the  purpose  of  raising  tribunitian  sedition  ;  on  us,  if  we  suffer 
laws  to  be  imposed  upon  us  by  a  secession  of  women,  as  was  done  for- 
merly by  that  of  the  common  people. 

It  was  not  without  painful  emotions  of  shame  that  I,  just  now,  made 
my  way  into  the  forum  through  the  midst  of  a  band  of  women.  Had  I 
not  been  restrained  by  respect  for  the  modesty  and  dignity  of  some  indi- 
viduals among  them,  rather  than  of  the  whole  number,  and  been  unwill- 
ing that  they  should  be  seen  rebuked  by  a  consul,  I  should  not  have 
refrained  from  saying  to  them  :  * '  What  sort  of  practice  is  this  of  running 
out  into  the  public,  besetting  the  streets,  and  addressing  other  women's 
husbands.  Could  not  each  have  made  the  same  request  to  her  husband 
at  home  ?  Are  your  blandishments  more  seducing  in  public  than  in  pri- 
vate, and  with  other  women's  husbands  than  with  your  own  ?  Although, 
if  females  would  let  this  modesty  confine  them  within  the  limits  of  their 
own  rights,  it  did  not  become  you,  even  at  home,  to  concern  yourselv< 
about  any  laws  that  might  be  passed  or  repealed  here." 

Our  ancestors  thought  it  not  proper  that  women  should  perform  an] 
even  private  business,  without  a  director  ;  but  that  they  should  be  eve 
under  the  control  of  parents,  brothers,  or  husbands.  We,  it  seems,  suffer 
them  now  to  interfere  in  the  management  of  State  affairs,  and  to  thrust 
themselves  into  the  forum,  into  general  assemblies,  and  into  assemblies  of 
election  ;  for  what  are  they  doing  at  this  moment  in  your  streets  and  lanes  ? 
What,  but  arguing,  some  in  support  of  the  motion  of  tribunes,  others  con- 
tending for  the  repeal  of  the  law. 


I 


CAIUS  GRACCHUS  (J 59- J2t  B.C) 

ROME'S  MOST  ELOQUENT  TRIBUNE 


MOST  of  us  are  familiar  with  the  story  told  of  Cornelia,  the  mother 
of  Caius  and  Tiberius  Gracchus.  A  Campanian  lady  visiting 
"^  her,  boasted  of  her  jewels,  and  asked  to  see  those  of  her  host- 
ess. In  reply  Cornelia  presented  her  sons,  saying,  "  These  are  the  only 
jewels  of  which  I  can  boast. ^'  These  jewels  of  sons  grew  up  to  be 
leaders  of  the  people  in  their  struggle  against  the  aristocrats.  Tiber- 
ius, a  valiant  soldier,  w^as  elected  tribune  of  the  people,  and  enacted 
laws  by  which  serious  abuses  were  reformed.  He  sustained  his  posi- 
tion with  great  eloquence,  but  in  a  second  election  was  attacked  and 
massacred  by  the  partisans  of  the  aristocratic  party.  Caius,  his  younger 
brother,  in  time  succeeded  him  in  the  tribunate,  and  two  years  after- 
ward was,  like  him,  murdered.  They  lived  when  the  liberties  of  Rome 
were  near  their  overthrow. 

THE  PEOPLE'S  RIGHTS  ABOVE  PRIVILEGE 

[Caius  Semprouius  Gracchus  was  endowed  with  great  talents  and  excelled  in  elo- 
quence. In  the  words  of  Plutarch,  he  was  *'  a  noble  specimen  of  every  virtue."  We 
have  no  direct  example  of  his  oratory,  but  extract  from  Livy  what  professes  to  be  one  of 
his  speeches  to  the  people  when  a  candidate  before  them  for  the  oflBce  of  tribune.] 

It  is  now  ten  years,  O  Romans,  since  my  brother,  Tiberius  Gracchus, 
was  elected  your  tribune.  In  what  a  condition  did  he  find  you  !  The  great 
mass  of  the  people  pined  in  abject  poverty.  Thousands,  eager  to  work, 
without  a  clod  of  dirt  they  could  call  their  own,  actually  wanted  daily 
bread.  A  few  men,  calling  themselves  "  the  aristocracy,"  having  enor- 
mous wealth  gotten  by  extortion  and  fraud,  lorded  it  over  you  with 
remorseless  rigor.  The  small  land  proprietors  had  disappeared.  Mercen- 
ary idlers,  their  fingers  actually  itching  for  bribes,  tricky  demagogues, 
insatiate  usurers,  desperate  gamblers,  all  the  vilest  abettors  of  lawless 

415 


416  CAIUS  GRACCHUS 

power,  liad  usurped  the  places  of  men  who  had  been  the  glory  and  strength 
of  the  Republic.  What  a  state  of  things  !  infinite  wretchedness  to  the 
millions,  but  riches  and  prodigality  to  the  hundreds.  The  rich  could 
plunder  the  poor  at  will,  for  your  rulers  and  judges  were  corrupt,  cowardly 
and  venal,  and  money  could  buy  them  to  do  anything.  Bribery  at  elec- 
tions, open,  unblushing,  flagrant,  kept  the  very  men  in  power  who  were 
sucking  the  life-blood  of  the  country .  Do  I  exaggerate  ?  Oh ,  no  !  It 
is  too  faint  a  picture  of  the  woe  and  degradation  of  the  people,  and  of  the 
rapacity,  arrogance,  and  depravity  of  their  oppressors. 

At  such  a  time  my  brother,  Tiberius  Gracchus,  presented  himself,  and 
was  elected  tribune.  His  heart  had  been  wrung  by  your  distresses.  He 
resolved  to  rescue  the  oppressed  and  down -trodden  people.  He  defied 
your  tyrants.  He  swiftly  ended  the  fraud  which  had  robbed  you  of  your 
lands.  No  shelter  of  wealth,  no  rank  or  place,  could  shield  from  his  fiery 
wrath.  In  vain  did  they  hurl  at  him  the  cheap  words  "demagogue," 
"  factionist,"  "  anarchist."  There  was  that  truth  in  his  tones,  that  sim- 
plicity and  nobility  in  his  bearing,  that  gentle  dignity  in  his  very  rage  at 
the  wrongs  done,  that  carried  conviction  of  his  sincerity  to  every  heart. 

Oh  !  how  pale  with  anger  were  those  "  aristocrats,"  as  they  styled 
themselves,  as  their  power  melted  away,  as  they  saw  the  people  resume 
their  rights  under  the  resistless  eloquence  of  that  young,  devoted  spirit ! 
But  he  must  be  silenced,  this  audacious  tribune,  this  incorruptible  critic 
of  the  privileged  class,  this  friend  and  saviour  of  the  people.  A  bloody 
revenge  must  quiet  their  fears,  lest  they  should  lose  their  illegal  plunder. 

Alas  !  the  foul  deed  was  done  !  In  a  tumult  instigated  for  the  pur- 
pose, your  tribune — champion  of  the  poor,  and  friend  of  the  friendless — was 
slain.  Even  his  body  was  refused  to  his  friends  ;  but  the  sacred  Tiber 
was  made  more  sacred  by  receiving  to  its  bosom  all  of  Tiberius  Gracchus 
that  could  perish. 

And  now,  men  of  Rome,  if  you  ask,  as  those  who  fear  me  do  ask, 
why  I  left  my  qusestorship  in  Sardinia  without  leave  of  the  Senate,  here 
is  my  answer  :  I  had  to  come  without  leave  or  not  at  all.  Why,  then, 
did  I  come  at  all  ?  To  offer  myself  for  the  ofiSce  my  brother  held,  and  for 
serving  you  in  which  he  was  brutally  murdered.  I  have  come  to  vindi- 
cate his  memory,  to  re-inaugurate  his  policy,  to  strip  the  privileged  class 
of  its  privileges,  to  restore  popular  rights,  to  lift  up  the  crushed,  to  break 
down  the  oppressor.  And,  O  Romans,  I  come  with  clean  hands,  with  no 
coffers  filled  with  gold  wrenched  from  desolated  provinces  and  a  ruined 
people.  I  can  offer  no  bribe  for  votes.  I  come  back  poor  as  I  went ;  poor 
indeed  in  all  but  hatred  of  tyrants  and  zeal  to  serve  my  country.  Shall  I 
be  your  tribune  ? 


CAIUS  JULIUS  CAESAR  (100-44  B.C) 

A  GREAT  CONQUEROR  AND  FAMOUS  ORATOR 


JULIUS  C^SAR,  one  of  the  greatest  generals  and  greatest  men 
the  world  has  ever  known,  proved  lumself  possessed  of  genius 
— ^  in  oratory  as  well  as  in  civil  and  military  affairs.  It  is  not 
with  his  marvelous  achievements  in  warfare,  nor  his  great  political 
skill  and  ability  that  we  are  here  concerned,  but  simply  with  his  stand- 
ing in  oratory,  in  which  his  supremacy  was  scarcely  second  to  that  in 
the  other  fields  of  effort  in  which  he  excelled.  As  an  orator  Cicero 
was  the  only  Roman  who  excelled  him,  and  many  think  that,  if 
Csesar  had  devoted  himself  specially  to  this  art,  he  might  have  riv- 
alled or  excelled  Cicero  himself.  Macaulay,  comparing  him  with 
Cromwell  and  Bonaparte,  says  that  he  was  master  of  what  neither  of 
the  others  possessed,  "  Learning,  taste,  wit,  eloquence,  the  sentiments 
and  the  manners  of  an  accomplished  gentleman."  It  was  through 
oratory,  indeed,  that  he  gained  his  first  distinction,  the  civil  position 
which  opened  the  way  to  his  later  career,  and  he  may  be  justly 
classed  with  the  greatest  orators  of  the  world. 

Previous  to  Caesar's  era  of  power,  the  stability  of  the  Roman 
Republic  had  been  threatened  by  two  ambitious  generals,  Marius  and 
Sulla.  It  was  to  the  triumvirate  formed  by  Csesar,  Pompey  and 
Crassus  that  it  owed  its  final  overthrow,  the  military  power  gaining 
supremacy  over  the  civil.  The  war  with  Pompey  and  his  defeat  and 
death  left  Csesar  at  the  head  of  the  Roman  state,  imperial  in  station, 
though  the  name  of  emperor  was  not  assumed  by  him,  he  accepting 
that  pf  dictator  instead.     At  his  death  he  was  dictator-elect  for  life. 

THE  PUNISHMENT  OF  CATILINE^S  ASSOCIATES 

[Csesar  held  high  office  in  the  Roman  state  when  the  dangerous  conspiracy  of 
Catiline  broke   out,   an   organization   of  profligate   and  disaffected  citizens,   whose 

27  417 


418  CAIUS  JULIUS  C-^SAR 

purpose  was  the  overthrow  of  the  republic.  Cicero,  who  was  then  consul,  discovered 
the  plot,  and  denounced  Catiline  so  vehemently  in  the  Senate  that  the  baffled  con- 
spirator hastily  left  Rome.  A  battle  followed  between  the  army  of  his  partisans  and 
that  of  the  Senate,  in  which  Catiline's  forces  were  defeated,  and  he,  with  some  three 
thousand  of  his  followers,  was  killed.  Caesar  was  suspected  of  complicity  in  this  plot, 
and  when  a  number  of  captive  conspirators  were  tried  in  the  Senate,  his  voice  was 
the  only  one  that  did  not  demand  for  them  the  sentence  of  death.  He  proposed 
imprisonment  instead,  saying  that  men  of  their  birth  and  dignity  should  not  be  put  to 
death  without  an  open  trial.  Cato  the  Younger  followed  with  a  speech  in  which  he 
accused  Caesar  of  connection  with  the  conspiracy,  and  their  advocate  narrowly  escaped 
being  included  in  the  death  sentence  passed  against  the  men  on  trial.  Of  Caesar's 
speech  we  possess  only  the  version  given  by  Sallust,  in  his  "History  of  the  Con- 
spiracy of  Catiline."     We  append  an  extract  from  this  version.] 

But,  you  will  say,  "Who  will  find  fault  with  any  punishment  decreed 
against  traitors  to  the  State  ?  "  I  answer,  time  may,  so  may  sudden  con- 
jectures ;  and  fortune,  too,  that  governs  the  world  at  pleasure.  What- 
ever punishment  is  inflicted  on  these  parricides  will  be  justly  inflicted. 
But  take  care.  Conscript  Fathers,  how  your  present  decrees  may  affect 
posterity.  All  bad  precedents  spring  from  good  beginnings,  but  when  the 
administration  is  in  the  hands  of  wicked  or  ignorant  men,  these  prece- 
dents, at  first  just,  are  transferred  from  proper  and  deserving  objects  to 
such  as  are  not  so. 

The  Lacedaemonians,  when  they  had  conquered  the  Athenians, 
placed  thirty  governors  over  them  ;  who  began  their  power  by  putting  to 
death,  without  any  trial,  such  as  were  remarkably  wicked  and  universally 
hated.  The  people  were  highly  pleased  at  this,  and  applauded  the  justice 
of  such  executions.  But  when  they  had  by  degrees  established  their  law- 
less authority,  they  wantonly  butchered  both  good  and  bad  without  dis- 
tinction ;  and  thus  kept  the  State  in  awe.  Such  was  the  severe  punishment 
which  the  people,  oppressed  with  slavery,  suffered  for  their  foolish  joy. 

In  our  own  times,  when  Sulla,  after  his  success,  ordered  Damasippus, 
and  others  of  the  like  character,  who  raised  themselves  on  the  misfortunes 
of  the  State,  to  be  put  to  death,  who  did  not  commend  him  for  it  ?  All 
agreed  that  such  wicked  and  factious  instruments,  who  were  constantly 
embroiling  the  commonwealth,  were  justly  put  to  death.  Yet  this  was  an 
introduction  to  a  bloody  massacre  ;  for  whoever  coveted  his  fellow-citi- 
zen's house,  either  in  town  or  country,  nay,  even  any  curious  vase  or  fine 
raiment,  took  care  to  have  the  possessor  of  it  put  on  the  list  of  the  pro- 
scribed. 

Thus  they  who  had  rejoiced  at  the  punishment  of  Damasippus  were 
soon  after  dragged  to  death  themselves  ;  nor  was  an  end  put  to  this 
butchery  till  Sulla  had  glutted  all  his  followers  with  riches.     I  do  not, 


i 


CAIUS  JULIUS  C^SAR  419 

indeed,  apprehend  any  such  proceedings  from  Marcus  Cicero,  nor  from 
these  times.  But  in  so  great  a  city  as  ours  there  are  various  characters 
and  dispositions.  At  another  time,  and  under  another  consul,  who  may 
also  have  an  army  under  his  command,  any  falsehood  may  pass  for  fact ; 
and  when,  on  this  precedent,  the  consul  shall,  by  decree  of  the  Senate, 
draw  the  sword,  who  is  to  set  bounds  to  it  ?  who  to  moderate  the  fury  ? 

Our  ancestors,  Conscript  Fathers,  never  wanted  conduct  nor  courage; 
nor  did  they  think  it  unworthy  of  them  to  imitate  the  customs  of  other 
nations,  if  these- were  useful  and  praiseworthy.  From  the  Samnites  they 
learned  the  exercise  of  arms,  and  borrowed  from  them  their  weapons  of 
war  ;  and  most  of  their  ensigns  of  magistracy  from  the  Tuscans — in  a 
word,  they  were  very  careful  to  practice  whatever  appeared  useful  to 
them,  whether  among  their  allies  or  their  enemies ;  choosing  rather  to 
imitate  than  envy  what  was  excellent. 

In  those  days,  in  imitation  of  the  custom  of  Greece,  they  inflicted 
stripes   on   guilty   citizens,    and   capital   punishment   on    such   as    were 
condemned ;   but  when  the  commonwealth  became  great  and  powerful, 
!  and  the  vast  number  of  citizens  gave  rise  to  factions  ;    when  the  inno- 
'  cent  began  to  be  circumvented,  and  other  such  inconveniences  to  take 
\  place  ;    then  the  Porcian  and  other  laws  were  made,  which  provided  no 
I  higher    punishment  than  banishment    for   the  greatest  crimes.      These 
considerations.  Conscript  Fathers,  appear  to  me  of  the  greatest  weight 
against  our  pursuing  any  new  resolution  on  this  occasion  ;    for  surely, 
their  share  of  virtue  and  wisdom,  who  from  so  small  beginnings  raised  so 
J  mighty  an  empire,  far  exceeds  ours,  who  are  scarce  able  to  preserve  what 
j>  they  acquired  so  gloriously.     "  What  !     Shall  we  discharge  the  conspir- 
ators," you  will  say,  "  to  reinforce  Catiline's  army  ?  "     By  no  means  :  but 
my  opinion  is  this  ;  that  their  estates  should  be  confiscated  ;  their  persons 
closely  confined  in  the  most  powerful  cities  of  Italy ;    and  that  no  one 
move  the  Senate  or  the  people  for  any  favor  towards  them,  under  the 
penalty  of  being  declared  by  the  Senate  an  enemy  to  the  State  and  the 
welfare  of  its  members. 


MARCUS  TULLIUS  CICERO  (J 06-43  B.  C) 

ROME^S  NOBLEST  ORATOR 


NEXT  in  fame  to  Demosthenes  among  ancient  orators  stands 
Cicero,  one  of  Rome's  noblest  and  ablest  sons.  While  excel- 
— ^  ling  in  several  branches  of  literature,  in  oratory  he  was 
supreme,  and  few  men  of  the  past  come  to  us  with  broader  fame  and 
hands  freer  from  guile  than  this  eloquent  citizen  of  the  "eternal 
city."  Cicero  was  born  in  times  of  trouble  and  turmoil.  The  founda- 
tions of  the  old  republic  were  breaking  up ;  the  leaders  of  the  army 
were  becoming  the  autocrats  of  the  State  ;  the  freedom  of  the  people 
was  near  its  end  and  the  Empire  was  at  hand.  There  were  two 
events  of  the  time  which  especially  aroused  the  indignation  of  the 
great  orator.  One  of  these  was  the  cruelty  and  outrages  of  the  infa 
mous  Caius  Verres,  prosecuted  by  the  Sicilians  for  atrocious  acts  o: 
inhumanity  and  rapine  while  governor  of  their  island.  Cicero  con- 
ducted the  prosecution  and  arraigned  Verres  in  such  overwhelming 
terms  that  the  culprit  fled  into  exile.  The  orations  against  Yerres 
were  seven  in  number.  Later,  while  one  of  the  Roman  consuls,  he 
detected  and  exposed  the  treasonable  designs  of  Catiline,  a  political 
leader,  who  had  conspired  to  seize  the  chief  power  in  the  State  by 
burning  the  city  and  massacring  his  opponents.  His  designs  were 
foiled  by  Cicero,  who  assailed  him  in  a  splendid  burst  of  indignant 
eloquence,  so  arousing  the  Senate  against  him  that  Catiline  fled  in 
dismay  from  the  city.  Other  orations  of  equal  eloquence  followed, 
and  the  whole  scheme  of  treason  and  outrage  fell  through. 

These  are  the  most  famous  of  Cicero's  numerous  orations,  the 
effect  of  which  was  such  as  to  give  him  unbounded  influence  in  the 
city.  His  final  outburst  of  oratory  was  against  the  ambitious  designs 
of  Mark  Antony.     There  were  fourteen  of  these  orations  in  all,  the 

420 


I 


MARTIN   LUTHER  THE  PULPIT  ORATOR 


introduced  Protestantism  ^^^  Reformation,  and 


MARCUS  TULLIUS  CICERO  421 

first  of  them  one  of  his  masterpieces.     His  words  swayed  Rome,  but 

his  enemies  held  the  sword,  and  Antony  rid  himself  of  his  assailant 

by  having  him  murdered. 

In  oratory  Cicero  combined  the  powers  of  the  celebrated  orators 

of  Athens,  uniting  the  force  of  Demosthenes  with  the  eloquence  of 

Isocrates.     Their  classic  reticence,  however,  was  replaced  by  him  with 

a  florid  exuberance  of  style  which  sometimes  offends  against  good 

taste ;    but  it  is  atoned  for  by  his  melody  of  language,  brilliancy  of 

expression  and  thorough  familiarity  with  human  nature.     These  give 

his  speeches  a  charm  which  still  persists,  despite  the  passage  of  the 

centuries. 

THE  TREASON  OF  CATILINE 

[Cicero,  as  is  above  said,  saved  Rome  from  ruin  by  denouncing  Catiline  in  the 
Senate  with  such  bitterness  as  to  drive  him  in  dismay  from  the  city.  He  roused  the 
people  against  the  army  which  the  traitor  had  collected  without  by  equally  eloquent 
denunciations.  We  append  two  extracts  from  these  masterpices  of  the  oratory  of 
indignation.] 

How  far,  O  Catiline,  wilt  thou  abuse  our  patience  ?  How  long  shalt 
thou  baffle  justice  in  thy  mad  career  ?  To  what  extreme  wilt  thou  carry 
thy  audacity  ?  Art  thou  nothing  daunted  by  the  nightly  watch,  posted 
to  secure  the  Palatium  ?  Nothing,  by  the  city  guards  ?  Nothing,  by  the 
rally  of  all  good  citizens  ?  Nothing,  by  the  assembling  of  the  Senate  in 
this  fortified  place  ?  Nothing,  by  the  averted  looks  of  all  here  present  ? 
Seest  thou  not  that  all  thy  plots  are  exposed  ? — that  thy  wretched  con- 
spiracy is  laid  bare  to  every  man's  knowledge,  here  in  the  Senate  ? — that 
we  are  well  aware  of  thy  proceedings  of  last  night ;  of  the  night  before  ; 
— the  place  of  meeting,  the  company  convoked,  the  measures  concerted  ? 

Alas,  the  times  !  Alas,  the  public  morals  !  The  Senate  understands 
all  this.  The  Consul  sees  it.  Yet  the  traitor  lives  !  I,ives  ?  Ay,  truly, 
and  confronts  us  here  in  council  ;  takes  part  in  our  deliberations  ;  and, 
with  his  measuring  eye,  marks  out  each  man  of  us  for  slaughter  ?  And 
we,  all  this  while,  strenuous  that  we  are,  think  we  have  amply  discharged 
our  duty  to  the  State,  if  we  but  shun  this  madman's  sword  and  fury  ! 

I,ong  since,  O  Catiline,  ought  the  Consul  to  have  ordered  thee  to 
execution,  and  brought  upon  thy  own  head  the  ruin  thou  hast  been  medi- 
tating against  others.  There  was  that  virtue  once  in  Rome,  that  a 
wicked  citizen  was  held  more  execrable  than  the  deadliest  foe.  We  have 
a  law  still,  Catiline,  for  thee.  Think  not  that  we  are  powerless,  because 
forbearing.  We  have  a  decree, — though  it  rests  among  our  archives  like 
a  sword  in  its  scabbard, — a  decree,  by  which  thy  life  would  be  made  to 


422  MARCUS  TULLIUS  CICERO 

pay  the  forfeit  of  thy  crimes.  And,  should  I  order  thee  to  be  instantly 
seized  and  put  to  death,  I  make  just  doubt  whether  all  good  men  would 
not  think  it  done  rather  too  late  than  any  man  too  cruelly.  But,  for  good 
reasons,  I  will  yet  defer  the  blow  long  since  deserved.  Then  will  I  doom 
thee,  when  no  man  is  found,  so  lost,  so  wicked,  nay,  so  like  thyself,  but 
shall  confess  that  it  was  justly  dealt. 

While  there  is  one  man  that  dares  to  defend  thee,  live  !  But  thou 
shalt  live  so  beset,  so  surrounded,  so  scrutinized  by  the  vigilant  guards  that 
I  have  placed  around  thee,  that  thou  shalt  not  stir  a  foot  against  the  Repub- 
lic without  my  knowledge.  There  shall  be  eyes  to  detect  thy  slightest 
movement,  and  ears  to  catch  thy  wariest  whisper,  of  which  thou  shalt  not 
dream.  The  darkness  of  night  shall  not  cover  thy  treason — the  walls  of 
'privacy  shall  not  stifle  its  voice.  Baffled  on  all  sides,  thy  most  secret 
counsels  clear  as  noonday,  what  canst  thou  now  have  in  view  ?  Proceed, 
plot,  conspire,  as  thou  wilt ;  there  is  nothing  you  can  contrive,  nothing 
you  can  propose,  nothing  you  can  attempt,  which  I  shall  not  know,  hear 
and  promptly  understand.  Thou  shalt  soon  be  made  aware  that  I  am 
even  more  active  in  providing  for  the  preservation  of  the  State  than  thou 
in  plotting  its  destruction. 


[The  following  is  from  a  second  of  the  orations  against  Catiline.] 


Conscript  Fathers,  a  camp  is  pitched  against  the  Roman  Republic 
wdthin  Italy,  on  the  very  borders  of  Ktruria.     Every  day  adds  to  the 
number  of  the  enemy.     The  leader  of  those  enemies,  the  commander  of 
that  encampment,  walks  within  the  walls  of  Rome,  and,  with  venomous  jl 
mischief,  rankles  in  the  inmost  vitals  of  the  commonwealth.  '' 

Catiline,  should  I,  on  the  instant,  order  my  lictors  to  seize  and  drag 
you  to  the  stake,  some  men  might,  even  then,  blame  me  for  having  pro- 
crastinated punishment ;  but  no  man  could  criminate  me  for  a  faithful  exe- 
cution of  the  laws.  They  shall  be  executed.  But  I  will  neither  act,  nor 
will  I  suffer,  without  full  and  sufficient  reason.  Trust  me,  they  shall  be 
executed,  and  then,  even  then,  when  there  shall  not  be  found  a  man  so 
flagitious,  so  much  a  Catiline,  as  to  say  you  were  not  ripe  for  execution. 

Was  not  the  night  before  the  last  sufficient  to  convince  you  that  there 
is  a  good  genius  protecting  that  republic,  which  a  ferocious  demoniac  is 
laboring  to  destroy  ?  I  aver,  that  on  that  same  night  you  and  your  com- 
plotters  assembled.  Can  even  your  own  tongue  deny  it  ? — Yet  secret ! 
Speak  out,  man  ;  for,  if  you  do  not,  there  are  some  I  see  around  me  who 
shall  have  an  agonizing  proof  that  I  am  true  in  my  assertion.  I 

Good  and  great  gods,  where  are  we?  What  city  do  we  inhabit? 
Under  what  government  do  we  live  ?     Here — here.  Conscript  Fathers, 


i 


MARCUS  TULLIUS  CICERO  _    _423 

mixed  and  mingled  with  us  all,  in  the  centre  of  this  most  grave  and 
venerable  assembly — are  men  sitting,  quietly  incubating  a  plot  against  my 
life,  against  all  your  lives,  the  life  of  every  virtuous  Senator  and  citizen ; 
while  I,  with  the  whole  nest  of  traitors  brooding  beneath  my  eyes,  am 
parading  in  the  petty  formalities  of  debate,  and  the  very  men  appear 
scarcely  vulnerable  by  my  voice  who  ought  long  since  to  have  been  cut 
down  by  the  sword. 

Proceed,  Catiline,  in  your  meritorious  career  !  Go  where  destiny  and 
desire  drive  you.  Evacuate  the  city  for  a  season.  The  gates  stand  open. 
Begone  !  What  a  pity  that  the  Manlian  army  should  look  so  long  for 
their  general !  Take  all  your  loving  friends  along  with  you  ;  or,  if  that 
be  a  vain  hope,  take,  at  least,  as  many  as  you  can,  and  cleanse  the  city 
for  some  short  time.  Let  the  walls  of  Rome  be  the  mediators  between 
me  and  thee  ;  for,  at  present,  yon  are  much  too  near.  I  will  not  suffer 
you,  I  will  not  longer  endure  you  ! 

lyucius  Catiline,  away  !  Begin  as  soon  as  you  can  this  shameful  and 
unnatural  war.  Begin  it,  on  your  part,  under  the  shade  of  every  dreadful 
omen  ;  on  mine,  with  the  sure  and  certain  hope  of  safety  to  my  country, 
and  glory  to  myself;  and,  when  this  you  have  done,  then  do  thou,  whose 
altar  was  first  founded  by  the  founder  of  our  State — thou,  the  establisher  of 
this  city — pour  out  thy  vengeance  upon  this  man,  and  all  his  adherents  ! 
Save  us  from  his  fury,  our  public  altars,  our  sacred  temples,  our  houses 
and  household  goods,  our  liberties,  our  lives  !  Pursue,  tutelar  god,  pur- 
sue them,  these  foes,  to  the  gods  and  to  goodness,  these  plunderers  of 
Italy,  these  assassins  of  Rome  !  Erase  them  out  of  this  life,  and  in  the 
next  let  thy  vengeance  follow  them  still,  insatiable,  implacable,  immortal. 

THE  CRUELTY  OF  VERRES 

[From  the  arraignment  of  Verres  we  select  Guthrie's  translation  of  a  passage 
in  which  Cicero  announces,  with  words  of  burning  indignation,  his  outrage  against  a 
Roman  citizen — the  claim  of  citizenship  being  held  as  a  secure  protection  against 
stripes  and  torture.] 

As  it  happened  Verres  came  on  that  very  day  to  Messana.  The  matter 
was  brought  before  him.  He  was  told  that  the  man  was  a  Roman  citizen; 
was  complaining  that  at  Syracuse  he  had  been  confined  in  the  stone 
quarries,  and  how  he,  when  he  was  actually  embarking  on  board  ship  and 
uttering  violent  threats  against  Verres,  had  been  brought  back  by  them, 
and  reserved  in  order  that  he  might  himself  decide  what  should  be  done 
with  him. 

He  thanks  the  men,  and  praises  their  good- will  and  diligence  in  his 
behalf.     He  himself,  inflamed  with  wickedness  and  frenzy,  came  into  the 


424  MARCUS  TULLIUS  CICERO 

forum.  His  eyes  glared  ;  cruelty  was  visible  in  his  whole  countenance  ; 
all  men  waited  to  see  what  steps  he  was  going  to  take  ;  what  he  was  going 
to  do ;  when  all  of  a  sudden  he  orders  the  man  to  be  seized,  and  to  be 
stripped  and  bound  in  the  middle  of  the  forum,  and  the  rods  to  be  got 
ready.  The  miserable  man  cried  out  that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen ;  a 
citizen  also  of  the  municipal  town  of  Cosa ;  that  he  had  served  with  Luciusr 
Pretius,  a  most  illustrious  Roman  knight,  who  was  living  as  a  trader  at 
Panormus,  and  from  whom  Verres  might  know  that  he  was  speaking  the 
truth. 

Then  Verres  says  that  he  has  ascertained  that  he  was  sent  into  Sicily 
by  the  leaders  of  the  runaway  slaves  in  order  to  act  as  a  spy  ;  a  matter  as 
to  which  there  was  no  evidence,  no  trace,  nor  even  the  slightest  suspicion 
in  the  mind  of  any  one.  Then  he  orders  the  man  to  be  most  violently 
scourged  on  all  sides, — in  the  middle  of  the  forum  of  Messana  a  Roman 
citizen,  O  judges,  was  beaten  with  rods  !  while,  in  the  meantime,  no  groan 
was  heard,  no  other  expression  was  heard  from  the  wretched  man,  amid 
all  his  pain,  and  between  the  sounds  of  the  blows,  except  these  words : 
"  I  am  a  citizen  of  Rome." 

He  fancied  that  by  this  one  statement  of  his  citizenship  he  could  ward 
ofif  all  blows  and  remove  all  torture  from  his  person.  He  not  only  di 
not  succeed  in  averting  by  his  entreaties  the  violence* of  the  rods,  but 
he  kept  on  repeating  his  entreaties,  and  the  assertion  of  his  citizenship 
cross — a  cross,  I  say — was  got  ready  for  that  miserable  man,  who  had 
never  witnessed  such  a  stretch  of  power. 

O  the  sweet  name  of  I,iberty  !     O  the  admirable  privileges  of  citizen- 
ship !     O  Porcian  law  !     O  Sempronian  laws  !     O  power  of  the  tribuneS; 
bitterly  regretted  by  and  at  last  restored  to  the  Roman  people  ! — in  a  tow: 
of  our  confederate  allies — a  Roman  citizen  should  be  bound  in  the  foru 
and  beaten  with  rods,  by  a  man  who  had  only  the  fasces  and  axes  through" 
the  kindness  of  the  Roman  people  ! 

If  the  bitter  entreaties  and  the  miserable  cries  of  that  man  had  no  ) 
power  to  restrain  you  ;  were  you  not  moved  even  by  the  weeping  and  loud  ' 
cries  of  the  Roman  citizens  who  were  present  at  the  time  ?     Did  you  dare 
to  drag  any  one  to  the  cross  who  said  that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen  ? 


I 


MARK  ANTONY  (83-30  B.  C) 

THE  AVENGER  OF  CAESAR 


MARCUS  ANTONIUS,  or  Mark  Antony,  as  he  is  usually  called, 
a  brave  and  able  general  and  the  friend  and  lieutenant  of 
"^  Csesar,  became  his  avenger  after  his  death  at  the  hands  of 
Brutus  and  his  fellow-conspirators.  By  his  artful  and  eloquent  funeral 
oration  over  the  body  of  the  slain  dictator  he  roused  the  fury  of  the 
populace  against  the  conspirators,  who  were  forced  to  flee  from  Rome. 
In  the  war  that  succeeded,  Antony  commanded  the  army  by  which 
that  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  was  defeated,  Brutus  killing  himself  on 
the  battlefield.  The  remainder  of  the  story  of  Antony  has  to  do  with 
the  triumvirate  (the  three-man  power)  formed  by  Antony,  Octavius, 
and  Lepidus, — by  which  the  freedom  of  Rome  was  again  overthrown, 
— his  fatal  love  for  Cleopatra,  Queen  of  Egypt,  his  war  with  and 
defeat  by  Octavius,  and  his  final  suicide. 

BRUTUS  DENOUNCED 

[Brutus,  the  leader  of  the  conspirators,  made  a  brief  oration  in  his  own  defense 
over  the  dead  body  of  Caesar.  He  was  followed  by  Mark  Antony,  as  above  stated.  From 
Shakespeare's  "Julius  Caesar,"  we  extract  Antony's  skillful  and  insidious  reply,  one  of 
the  most  famous  examples  of  oratorical  composition  in  all  literature.  As  we  were  ob- 
liged to  go  to  the  pages  of  the  ancient  historians  for  our  examples  of  the  speeches  of 
several  Greek  and  Roman  orators,  we  seem  equally  justified  in  selecting  those  of 
Brutus  and  Antony  from  the  great  modern  dramatist.] 

Friends,  Romans,  countrymen  !     Lend  me  your  ears. 
I  come  to  bury  Caesar,  not  to  praise  him. 
The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them  ; 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones : 
So  let  it  be  with  Caesar  ! 

The  noble  Brutus 
Hath  told  you,  Caesar  was  ambitious. 

425 


426  MARK  ANTONY 

If  it  were  so,  it  was  a  grievous  fault ; 
And  grievously  hath  Caesar  answered  it. 
Here,  under  leave  of  Brutus  and  the  rest 
(For  Brutus  is  an  honorable  man , 
So  are  they  all,  all  honorable  men). 
Come  I  to  speak  in  Caesar's  funeral. 

He  was  my  friend,  faithful  and  just  to  me  ; 
But  Brutus  says  he  was  ambitious  ; 
And  Brutus  is  an  honorable  man. 
He  hath  brought  many  captives  home  to  Rome, 
Whose  ransoms  did  the  general  coffers  fill ; 
Did  this  in  Caesar  seem  ambitious  ? 
When  that  the  poor  hath  cried,  Caesar  hath  wept ! 
Ambition  should  be  made  of  sterner  stuff. 
Yet  Brutus  says  he  was  ambitious  ; 
And  Brutus  is  an  honorable  man. 
You  all  did  see  that,  on  the  Lupercal, 
I  thrice  presented  him  a  kingly  crown  ; 
Which  he  did  thrice  refuse  :     Was  this  ambition  ? 
Yet  Brutus  says  he  was  ambitious  ; 
And  sure  he  is  an  honorable  man. 

I  speak  not  to  disprove  what  Brutus  spoke  ; 
But  here  I  am  to  speak  what  I  do  know. 
You  all  did  love  him  once  ;  not  without  cause  ; 
What  cause  withholds  you,  then,  to  mourn  for  him  ? 
O  judgment  !  thou  art  fled  to  brutish  beasts. 
And  men  have  lost  their  reason.     Bear  with  me  ; 
My  heart  is  in  the  cofi&n  there,  with  Caesar, 
And  I  must  pause  till  it  come  back  to  me. 

But  yesterday,  the  word  of  Caesar  might 
Have  stood  against  the  world  ;  now  lies  he  there, 
And  none  so  poor  to  do  him  reverence. 

0  masters  !  if  I  were  disposed  to  stir 
Your  hearts  and  minds  to  mutiny  and  rage, 

1  should  do  Brutus  wrong,  and  Cassius  wrong. 
Who,  you  all  know,  are  honorable  men. 

I  will  not  do  them  wrong.     I  rather  choose 
To  wrong  the  dead,  to  wrong  myself  and  you, 
Than  I  will  wrong  such  honorable  men. 

But  here's  a  parchment,  with  the  seal  of  Caesar  ; 
I  found  it  in  his  closet ;   'tis  his  will. 


MARK  ANTONY  427 

Let  but  the  commons  hear  this  testament 

(Which,  pardon  me,  I  do  not  mean  to  read), 

And  they  would  go  and  kiss  dead  Caesar's  wounds, 

And  dip  their  napkins  in  his  sacred  blood, 

Yea,  beg  a  hair  of  him  for  memory, 

And  dying,  mention  it  within  their  wills, 

Bequeathing  it  as  a  rich  legacy. 

Unto  their  issue. — 

Have  patience,  gentle  friends,  I  must  not  read  it; 

It  is  not  meet  you  know  how  Caesar  loved  you. 

You  are  not  wood,  you  are  not  stones,  but  men, 

And,  being  men,  hearing  the  will  of  Caesar, 

It  will  inflame  you,  it  will  make  you  mad. 

'Tis  good  you  know  not  that  you  are  his  heirs. 

For  if  you  should,  O  !   what  would  come  of  it? 

If  you  have  tears,  prepare  to  shed  them  now. 
You  all  do  know  this  mantle  ;  I  remember 
The  first  time  ever  Caesar  put  it  on  ; 
'Twas  on  a  summer's  evening,  in  his  tent, — 
That  day  he  overcame  the  Nervii. — 
Look  !  in  this  place  ran  Cassius'  dagger  through  ; 
See,  what  a  rent  the  envious  Casca  made  ; 
Through  this  the  well-beloved  Brutus  stabbed  ; 
And,  as  he  plucked  his  cursed  steel  away, 
Mark  how  the  blood  of  Caesar  followed  it ; 
As  rushing  out  of  doors,  to  be  resolved 
If  Brutus  so  unkindly  knocked,  or  no  ; 
For  Brutus,  as  you  know,  was  Caesar's  angel ; 
Judge,  O  you  gods,  how  dearly  Caesar  loved  him  I 

This,  was  the  most  unkindest  cut  of  all. 
For  when  the  noble  Caesar  saw  him  stab , 
Ingratitude,  more  strong  than  traitors'  arms. 
Quite  vanquished  him  !     Then  burst  his  mighty  heart 
And,  in  his  mantle  muffling  up  his  face, 
Even  at  the  base  of  Pompey's  statue 
(Which  all  the  while  ran  blood) ,  great  Caesar  fell. 

O,  what  a  fall  was  there,  my  countrymen ! 
Then  I,  and  you,  and  all  of  us  fell  down, 
Whilst  bloody  treason  flourished  over  us  ! 
O,  now  you  weep  ;  and  I  perceive  you  feel 
The  dint  of  pity.     These  are  gracious  drops. 


428  MARK  ANTONY 

Kind  souls  !     What  !    weep  you  when  you  but  behold 
Our  Caesar's  vesture  wounded  ?     Look  you  here  ! 
Here  is  himself,  marred,  as  you  see,  by  traitors. 

Good  friends  !     Sweet  friends  !     Let  me  not  stir  you  up 
To  such  a  sudden  flood  of  mutiny  ! 
They  that  have  done  this  deed  are  honorable  ! 
What  private  griefs  they  have,  alas,  I  know  not, 
That  made  them  do  it !     They  are  wise  and  honorable 
And  will,  no  doubt,  with  reason  answer  you. 

I  come  not,  friends,  to  steal  away  your  hearts  ; 
I  am  no  orator,  as  Brutus  is. 
But,  as  you  know  me  all,  a  plain,  blunt  man, 
That  love  my  friend,  and  that  they  knew  full  well 
That  gave  me  public  leave  to  speak  of  him  ! 
For  I  have  neither  wit,  nor  words,  nor  worth. 
Action,  nor  utterance,  nor  power  of  speech, 
To  stir  men's  blood. 

I  only  speak  right  on. 
I  tell  you  that  which  you  yourselves  do  know, 
Show  you  sweet  Caesar's  wounds,  poor,  poor,  dumb  mouths, 
And  bid  them  speak  for  me.     But  were  I  Brutus, 
And  Brutus  Antony,  there  were  an  Antony 
Would  ruffle  up  your  spirits,  and  put  a  tongue 
In  every  wound  of  Caesar,  that  should  move 
The  stones  of  Rome  to  rise  and  mutiny. 


The  eloquence  of  St.  Bernard  moved  the  Catholic  nations  of 
Europe  to  undertake  the  second  crusade.  This  picture  shows  the 
famous  orator  and  his  great  audience. 


JOHN  KNOX  THE  SCOTCH  REFORMER 

This  eloquent  Presbyterian  Preacher  is  represented  as  earnestly 
exhorting  Mary,  Queen  of  the  Scots,  to  righteousness.  He  was 
the  most  eloquent  of  all  Scotch  orators. 


BOOK  IL 

Pulpit  Orators  of  Mediaeval  Europe 

IT  is  a  long  journey  through  time  from  the  period 
of  the  decadence  of  classic  oratory  to  the  revolu- 
tionary era  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
in  which  the  Demosthenes  and  Cicero  of  the  far  past 
first  found  their  rivals  upon  the  stage  of  modern 
eloquence.  In  this  lapse  of  nearly  eighteen  centu- 
ries, though  the  art  of  oratory  survived,  its  field  of 
exercise  was  greatly  narrowed.  In  Europe,  the  home 
of  such  civilization  as  existed,  free  speech  in  political 
affairs  was  almost  a  thing  unknown.  The  hand  of 
the  autocrat  lay  heavily  upon  the  neck  of  the  nations, 
and  secular  thought  was  "  cabined,  cribbed,  con- 
fined." Only  in  England,  in  those  periods  when  the 
people  rose  in  revolt  against  the  tyranny  of  their 
kings,  was  there  any  freedom  of  speech  in  parliamen- 
tary halls.  During  the  extended  era  in  question 
oratory,  as  a  rule,  was  restricted  to  the  clergy,  to 
whom  the  broad  domain  of  morals  and  religion  lay 
freely  open,  and  to  whose  care  was  left  such  education 
and  philosophy  as  existed.  It  is,  therefore,  in  the 
Church  that  we  must  seek  the  leading  orators  of 
mediaeval  times.  During  most  of  the  age  in  ques- 
tion, learning  and  thought  drifted  very  largely  into 
the  cloister  and  monastery,  while  the  ignorance  and 
immorality  of  the  people  called  for  strenuous  efforts 
on  the  part  of  the  keepers  of  the  public  conscience, 
and  the  leaders  in  thought  and  education.  All  this 
gave  rise  to  an  abundance  of  ecclesiastical  oratory,  of 
which  a  considerable  sum  is  still  in  evidence,  while 
secular  oratory  during  the  period  in  question  is 
almost  unknown. 

429 


ST.  AUGUSTINE   (354-430) 

AN  ILLUSTRIOUS  FATHER  OF  THE  CHURCH 


i 


|F  all  the  Fathers  of  the  Latin  Church,"  says  Villemain, 
"  Saint  Augustine  manifested  the  most  imagination  in  theo- 
logy ;  the  most  eloquence,  and  even  sensibility,  in  scholasti- 
cism." Born  at  Tagasta,  in  Numidia,  he  studied  Greek,  rhetoric  and 
philosophy,  at  Carthage  and  Madaura,  while  his  mother,  Monica,  a 
devout  Christian,  instructed  him  in  religion.  He  taught  grammar 
and  rhetoric,  and  in  384  became  professor  of  rhetoric  and  philosophy 
at  Milan.  His  career  up  to  this  time  had  been  one  of  immorality, 
but,  affected  by  the  sermons  of  Saint  Ambrose,  he  became  devoutly 
religious,  joined  the  Church,  and  was  thenceforth  a  preacher  and 
writer  of  the  highest  ability  among  the  early  theologians.  His  repu- 
tation as  an  eloquent  preacher  was  very  great.  His  life,  as  preacher 
and  author,  was  passed  in  Africa,  where  he  died  at  Hippo  in  430, 
during  the  siege  of  that  city  by  the  Vandals. 

THE  LORiyS  PRAYER 

[The  following  is  the  opening  portion  of  a  sermon  by  Saint  Augustine,  on  the 
subject  of  '*  The  Lord's  Prayer,"  which  he  analyzes  throughout  in  the  manner  here 
presented.     It  is  an  excellent  example  of  his  oratorical  method.] 

The  Son  of  God,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  hath  taught  us  a  prayer 
and  though  He  be  the  Lord  himself,  as  ye  have  heard  and  repeated  in* 
the  Creed,  the  only  Son  of  God,  yet  He  would  not  be  alone.  He  is  the 
Only  Son,  and  yet  would  not  be  alone ;  He  hath  vouchsafed  to  have 
brethren.  For  to  whom  doth  He  say,  "  Say,  our  Father,  which  art  in 
Heaven  ?  ' '  Whom  did  He  wish  us  to  call  our  Father,  save  His  own 
Father  !  Did  He  grudge  us  this  ?  Parents  sometimes,  when  they  have 
gotten  one,  two,  or  three  children,  fear  to  give  birth  to  any  more,  h 
they  reduce  the  rest  to  beggary.  But  because  the  inheritance  which  H( 
430 


ST.  AUGUSTINE  431 

promised  us  is  such  as  many  may  possess,  and  no  one  can  be  straitened, 
therefore  hath  He  called  into  His  brotherhood  the  peoples  of  the  nations  ; 
and  the  Only  Son  hath  numberless  brethren,  who  say,  "  Our  Father, 
which  art  in  Heaven."  So  said  those  who  have  been  before  us  ;  and  so 
shall  say  those  who  will  come  after  us.  See  how  many  brethren  the 
Only  Son  hath  in  His  grace,  sharing  His  inheritance  with  those  for  whom 
He  suffered  death.  We  had  a  father  and  mother  on  earth,  that  we  might 
be  born  to  labors  and  to  death  ;  but  we  have  found  other  parents,  God  our 
father  and  the  Church  our  mother,  by  whom  we  are  born  into  life  eter- 
nal. Let  us  then  consider,  beloved,  whose  children  we  have  begun  to 
be  ;  and  let  us  live  so  as  becomes  those  who  have  such  a  father.  See 
how  our  Creator  hath  condescended  to  be  our  Father  ! 

We  have  heard  whom  we  ought  to  call  upon,  and  with  what  hope  of 
an  eternal  inheritance  we  have  begun  to  have  a  Father  in  Heaven  ;  let  us 
now  hear  what  we  must  ask  of  him,  Of  such  a  father  what  shall  we 
ask?  Do  we  not  ask  rain  of  Him,  to-day,  and  yesterday,  and  the  day 
before  ?  This  is  no  great  thing  to  have  asked  of  such  a  Father,  and  yet 
ye  see  with  what  sighings,  and  with  what  great  desire,  we  ask  for  rain, 
when  death  is  feared — when  that  is  feared  which  none  can  escape.  For 
sooner  or  later  every  man  must  die,  and  we  groan,  and  pray,  and  travail 
in  pain,  and  cry  to  God,  that  we  may  die  a  little  later.  How  much  more 
ought  we  to  cry  to  Him,  that  we  may  come  to  that  place  where  we  shall 
never  die  ! 

Therefore  it  is  said,  "  Hallowed  be  Thy  name."  This,  we  also  ask 
of  Him  that  His  name  may  be  hallowed  in  us ;  for  holy  is  it  always. 
And  how  is  His  name  hallowed  in  us,  except  while  it  makes  us  holy  ? 
For  once  we  were  not  holy,  and  we  are  made  holy  in  His  name ;  but  He 
is  always  holy,  and  His  name  always  holy.  It  is  for  ourselves,  not  for 
God,  that  we  pray.  For  we  do  not  wish  well  to  God,  to  whom  no  ill  can 
ever  happen.  But  we  wish  what  is  good  for  ourselves,  that  His  holy 
name  may  be  hallowed  in  us. 

"  Thy  kingdom  come."  Come  it  surely  will,  whether  we  ask  or  no. 
Indeed,  God  hath  an  eternal  kingdom.  For  when  did  He  not  reign? 
When  did  He  begin  to  reign  ?  For  His  kingdom  hath  no  beginning,  nor 
shall  it  have  any  end.  But  that  ye  may  know  that  in  this  prayer  also  we 
pray  for  ourselves,  and  not  for  God,  we  shall  be  ourselves  His  kingdom, 
if  believing  in  Him  we  make  progress  in  this  faith.  All  the  faithful, 
redeemed  by  the  blood  of  His  only  Son,  will  be  His  kingdom,  and  this 
His  kingdom  will  come  when  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  shall  have 
taken  place  ;  for  then  He  will  come  Himself. 


SX  JOHN  CHRYSOSTOM  (347407) 

JOHN  OF  THE  GOLDEN  MOUTH 


mHE  title  "  golden-mouthed "  was  given  to  Chrysostom  as  a 
tribute  to  the  splendor  of  his  eloquence.  Born  at  Antioch, 
Syria,  he  studied  oratory  to  enter  the  legal  profession ;  but 
instead  became  a  monk,  and  a  preacher  of  such  eloquence,  earnestness 
and  practical  sense  that  he  was  accounted  the  greatest  orator  of  the 
ancient  church.  Appointed  Archbishop  of  Constantinople  in  398,  he 
became  an  earnest  reformer,  denouncing  the  vices  of  the  court  and 
employing  the  revenues  of  the  Church  so  largely  in  charity  that  he 
was  called  ''John  the  Almoner."  This  course  did  not  please  the 
parties  in  power,  and  he  was  deposed  and  banished  to  a  desert  region. 
Here  he  continued  to  preach  with  his  old  zeal.  Again  he  was  ban- 
ished to  a  more  remote  region,  being  made  to  travel  on  foot,  with  his 
bare  head  exposed  to  a  burning  sun.  This  cruelty  proved  fatal,  and 
he  died  on  the  journey,  blessing  God  with  his  dying  lips. 

DEATH  A  BLESSED  DISPENSATION 

[Chrysostom  was  an  active  writer,  and  many  of  his  works  exist,  the  most  valu- 
able being  his  "Homilies,"  the  best  of  their  kind  in  ancient  Christian  literature.  He, 
in  the  words  of  the  historian  Sozomen,  was  "  mighty  to  speak  and  to  convince,  sur- 
passing all  the  orators  of  his  time."] 

Believe  me,  I  am  ashamed  and  blush  to  see  unbecoming  groups  of 
women  pass  along  the  mart,  tearing  their  hair,  cutting  their  arms  and 
cheeks — and  all  this  under  the  eyes  of  the  Greeks.     For  what  will  they 
not  say  ?     What  will  they  not  utter  concerning  us  ?     Are  these  the  mei 
who  philosophize   about   a  resurrection  ?     Indeed  !     How  poorly  th( 
actions  agree  with  their  opinions  !     In  words,  they  philosophize  about 
resurrection  :    but  they  act  just  like  those  who  do  not  acknowledge 
resurrection.     If  they  fully  believed  in  a  resurrection,  they  would  not 
432 


ST.  JOHN  CHRYSOSTOM  433 

thus  ;  if  they  had  really  persuaded  themselves  that  a  deceased  friend  had 
departed  to  a  better  state,  they  would  not  thus  mourn.  These  things,  and 
more  than  these,  the  unbelievers  say  when  they  hear  those  lamentations. 
Let  us  then  be  ashamed,  and  be  no  more  moderate,  and  not  occasion  so 
much  harm  to  ourselves  and  to  those  who  are  looking  on  us. 

For  on  what  account,  tell  me,  do  you  thus  weep  for  one  departed  ? 
Because  he  was  a  bad  man  ?  You  ought  on  that  very  account  to  be 
thankful,  since  the  occasions  of  wickedness  are  now  cut  off.  Because  he 
was  good  and  kind  ?  If  so,  you  ought  to  rejoice  ;  since  he  has  been  soon 
removed,  before  wickedness  had  corrupted  him  :  and  he  has  gone  away  to 
a  world  where  he  stands  ever  secure,  and  there  is  no  room  even  to  mis- 
trust a  change.  Because  he  was  a  youth?  For  that,  too,  praise  Him 
who  has  taken  him,  because  He  has  speedily  called  him  to  a  better  lot. 
Because  he  was  an  aged  man  ?  On  this  account,  also,  give  thanks  and 
glorify  Him  that  has  taken  him. 

Be  ashamed  of  your  manner  of  burial.     The  singing  of  psalms,  the 
prayers,  the  assembling  of  the  (spiritual)  fathers  and  brethren — all  this  is 
not  that  you  may  weep  and  lament  and  afflict  yourselves,  but  that  you 
j  may  render  thanks  to  Him  who  has  taken  the  departed.     For  as  when 
I  men  are  called  to  some  high  office,  multitudes  with  praises  on  their  lips 
J  assemble  to  escort  them  at  their  departure  to  their  stations,  so  do  all  with 
■  abundant  praise  join  to  send  forward,  as  to  greater  honor,  those  of  the 
pious  who  have  departed.     Death  is  rest,  a  deliverance  from  the  exhaust- 
]  ing  labors  and  cares  of  this  world.     When,  then,  thou  seest  a  relative 
j  departing,  yield  not  to  despondency  ;  give  thyself  to  reflection  ;  examine 
{  thy  conscience  ;  cherish  the  thought  that  after  a  little  while  this  end  awaits 
i|  thee  also.     Be  more  considerate  ;   let  another's  death  excite  thee  to  salu- 
tary fear ;  shake  off  all  indolence  ;  examine  your  past  deeds ;  quit  your 
sins,  and  commence  a  happy  change. 

We  differ  from  unbelievers  in  our  estimate  of  things.     The  unbeliever 
I  surveys  the  heavens  and  worships  it,  because  he  thinks  it  a  divinity  ; 
1  he  looks  to  the  earth  and  makes  himself  a  servant  to  it,  and  longs  for  the 
[  things  of  sense.     But  not  so  with  us.     We  survey  the  heaven,  and  admire 
i  Him  that  made  it ;  for  we  believe  it  not  to  be  a  god,  but  a  work  of  God. 
*j  I  look  on  the  whole  creation,  and  am  led  by  it  to  the  Creator.     He  looks 
I  on  wealth,  and  longs  for  it  with  earnest  desire  ;  I  look  on  w^ealth  and  con- 
temn it.     He  sees  poverty,  and  laments;    I  see  poverty,  and  rejoice.     I 
see  things  in  one  light ;  he  in  another.     Just  so  in  regard  to  death.     He 
sees  a  corpse,  and  thinks  it  is  a  corpse  ;    I  see  a  corpse,  and  behold  sleep 
rather  than  death. 


28 


SAINT  BERNARD  (10914153) 

THE  FAMOUS  ABBOT  OF  CLAIRVAUX 


'^TjO  man  of  his  period  had  a  greater  influence  through  his  elo- 
l\|  quence  than  the  famous  Saint  Bernard,  whose  persuasiveness 
*  '  was  such  that  he  could  almost  move  the  world.  When  he,  in 
his  early  years,  entered  the  Cistercian  monastery  of  Citeaux,  his  five 
brothers — two  of  whom  were  in  the  army — and  a  number  of  others 
were  drawn  by  his  eloquence  from  their  occupations  to  embrace  the 
monastic  life.  It  is  said  that  "  Mothers  hid  their  sons,  wives  theifj 
husbands,  and  companions  their  friends,'^  lest  they  should  be  draw 
to  follow  this  wonderful  persuader.  As  Abbot  of  Clairvaux  he  exer- 
cised a  powerful  influence  upon  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  Europe. 
He  made  Innocent  II.  pope,  inducing  the  emperor  to  take  up  arms  i 
his  support;  and  was  greatly  instrumental  in  the  condemnation  o 
Abelard's  writings,  causing  the  pope  to  silence  the  heretical  author. 
While  thus  influential  he  lived  a  very  simple  and  ascetic  life.  In 
1146  he  preached  earnestly  in  advocacy  of  the  second  crusade,  which 
was  largely  due  to  his  efforts.  As  an  orator  Saint  Bernard  ranks  high^ 
his  eloquence  being  of  that  type  the  force  of  which  holds  good  through 
the  centuries, — simple,  comprehensible;  inspiring,  and  effective. 

THE  DELIVERANCE  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND 

[Bernard  was  perhaps  at  his  best  in  his  plea  for  the  deliverance  of  the  Holy  Land 
from  the  bands  of  the  infidel.  At  the  council  of  Vezelai  he  spoke  before  the  king  and 
nobles  of  France  like  one  inspired,  and  with  his  own  hand  gave  them  their  crosses. 
He  also  by  his  oratory  persuaded  the  German  Emperor  Conrad  to  join  the  crusade. 
We  give  a  brief  example  of  his  arguments.  They  were  of  a  kind  likely  to  be  very 
effective  in  that  age.] 

You  cannot  but  know  that  we  live  in  a  period  of  chastisement  and 
ruin  ;  the  enemy  of  mankind  has  caused  the  breath  of  corruption  to  fly 
434 


le 

i 


J 


SAINT  BERNARD  435 

over  all  regions  ;  we  behold  nothing  but  unpunished  wickedness.  The 
laws  of  men  or  the  laws  of  religion  have  no  longer  sufficient  power  to 
check  depravity  of  manners  and  the  triumph  of  the  wicked.  The  demon 
of  heresy  has  taken  possession  of  the  chair  of  truth,  and  God  has  sent 
forth  his  malediction  upon  his  sanctuary.  O  ye  who  listen  to  me,  hasten 
then  to  appease  the  anger  of  Heaven,  but  no  longer  implore  His  goodness 
by  vain  complaints  ;  clothe  not  yourselves  in  sackcloth,  but  cover  your- 
selves with  your  impenetrable  bucklers  ;  the  din  of  arms,  the  dangers, 
the  labors,  the  fatigues  of  war  are  the  penances  that  God  now  imposes 
upon  you.  Hasten  then  to  expiate  your  sins  by  victories  over  the  infidels, 
and  let  the  deliverance  of  holy  places  be  the  reward  of  your  repentance. 

If  it  were  announced  to  you  that  the  enemy  had  invaded  your  cities, 
your  castles,  your  lands  ;  had  ravished  your  wives  and  your  daughters, 
and   profaned  your  temples,  which  among  you  would  not  fly  to  arms  ? 
Well,  then,  all  these  calamities,  and  calamities  still  greater,  have  fallen 
upon  your  brethren,   upon  the  family  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  yours. 
Why  do  you  hesitate  to  repair  so  many  evils  ;  to  revenge  so  many  out- 
rages ?     Will  you  allow  the  infidels  to  contemplate  in  peace  the  rava- 
ges they  have   committed   on   Christian   people  ?     Remember  that  their 
triumph  will  be  the  subject  for  grief  to  all  ages,  and  an  eternal  opprobrium 
upon  the  generation  that  has  endured  it.     Yes,  the  living  God  has  charged 
me  to  announce  to  you  that  He  will  punish  them  who  shall  not  have 
defended  Him  against  his  enemies.     Fly  then  to  arms ;  let  a  holy  rage 
animate  you  in  the  fight,  and  let  the  Christian  world  resound  with  these 
words  of  the  prophet,   "  Cursed  be  he  who  does  not  stain  his  sword  with 
blood  !  "     If  the  Lord  calls  you  to  the  defense  of  His  heritage,  think  not 
1  that  His  hand  has  lost  its  power.     Could  He  not  send  twelve  legions  of 
angels,  or  breathe  one  word,  and  all  His  enemies  would  crumble  away 
into  dust  ?     But  God  has  considered  the  sons  of  men,  to  open  for  them 
the  road  to  His  mercy.     His  goodness  has  caused  to  dawn  for  you  a  day 
of  safety,  by  calling  on  you  to  avenge  His  glory  and  His  name.     Chris- 
tian warriors.   He  who  gave  His  life  for  you,  to-day  demands  yours  in 
.  return.     These  are  combats  worthy  of  you,  combats  in  which  it  is  glori- 
i  ous  to  conquer  and  advantageous  to  die.     Illustrious  knights,  generous 
\\  defenders  of  the  cross,  remember  the  example  of  your  fathers  who  con- 
quered Jerusalem,  and  whose  names  are  inscribed  in  Heaven;  abandon 
.then  the  things  that  perish,  to  gather  unfading  palms  and  conquer  a  king- 
idom  which  has  no  end. 


ALBERTUS  MAGNUS  ( J  200- 1 280) 

ALBERT  THE  GREAT,  SCHOLASTIC  LECTURER 


ALBERTUS  MAGNUS  (or  "Albert  the  Great"),  a  celebrated  pro- 
'  fessor  of  Scholasticism — the  theological  philosophy  of  the 
'  Middle  Ages — was  born  in  Bavaria  about  1200,  the  exact  year 
of  his  birth  being  in  doubt.  Becoming  a  Dominican  friar,  he  lectured 
on  theology  for  three  years  at  Paris,  and  for  a  long  period  at  Cologne. 
For  a  few  years  he  was  Bishop  of  Ratisbon,  but  resigned  that  office, 
which  he  had  never  desired.  Among  the  theologians  and  philoso- 
phers of  his  period  he  stood  in  the  first  rank,  and  was  distinguished 
alike  for  an  ardent  love  of  knowledge,  for  modesty,  and  for  an  earnest 
and  disinterested  spirit.  His  works,  which  are  numerous,  treat  of 
logic,  theology,  physics,  and  metaphysics,  as  these  w^ere  understood  in 
mediaeval  times. 

THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  CHRIST'S  CRUCIHXION 

[From  one  of  the  theological  discourses  of  Albertus  we  make  the  following 
selection,  which  possesses  a  living  interest  to-day,  in  the  lessons  which  are  drawn 
from  the  incidents  of  the  suffering  of  the  Saviour.] 

It  was  surrounded  by  the  thick  wreath  of  thorns  even  to  the  tender 
brain.  Whence  in  the  Prophet, — "the  people  hath  stirrounded  me  with 
the  thorns  of  sin."  And  why  was  this,  save  that  mine  own  head  might 
not  suffer,  thine  own  conscience  might  not  be  wounded  ?  His  eyes  grew 
dark  in  death  ;  and  those  lights,  which  give  light  to  the  world,  were  for  a 
time  extinguished.  And  when  they  were  clouded,  there  was  darkness 
over  all  the  earth,  and  with  them  the  two  great  lights  of  the  firmament 
were  moved  ;  to  the  end  that  thine  eyes  might  be  turned  away,  lest  they 
should  behold  vanity  ;  or,  if  they  chance  to  behold  it,  might  for  His  sake 
condemn  it.  Those  ears,  which  in  heaven  unceasingly  hear  "Holy, 
Holy,  Holy,"  vouchsafed  on  earth  to  be  filled  with  :  "Thou  hast  a  devil, 
436 


I 


ALBERTUS  MAGNUS  437 

Crucify  Him  !  Crucify  Him  !"— to  the  intent  that  thine  ears  might  not  be 
deaf  to  the  cry  of  the  poor,  nor,  open  to  idle  tales,  should  readily  receive 
the  poison  of  distraction  or  of  adulation.  That  fair  face  of  Him  that  was 
fairer  than  the  children  of  men,  yea,  than  thousands  of  angels,  was 
bedaubed  with  spitting,  afflicted  with  blows,  given  up  to  mockery,  to  the 
end  that  thy  face  might  be  enlightened,  and,  being  enlightened,  might  be 
strengthened,  so  that  it  might  be  said  of  thee,  "  His  countenance  is  no 
more  changed."  That  mouth,  which  teaches  angels  and  instructs  men, 
"which  spake  and  it  was  done,"  was  fed  with  gall  and  vinegar,  that  thy 
mouth  might  speak  the  truth,  and  might  be  opened  to  the  praise  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  it  was  silent,  lest  thou  shouldst  lightly  lend  thy  tongue  to  the 
expression  of  anger. 

Those  hands,  which  stretched  abroad  the  heavens,  were  stretched  out 
on  the  cross  and  pierced  with  most  bitter  nails  ;  as  saith  Isaiah,  *'  I  have 
stretched  forth  my  hands  all  the  day  to  an  unbelieving  people."  And 
David,  *'  They  pierced  my  hands  and  my  feet  ;  I  may  tell  all  my  bones." 
And  St.  Jerome  says,  "  We  may,  in  the  stretching  forth  of  His  hands, 
understand  the  liberality  of  the  giver,  who  denieth  nothing  to  them  that 
ask  lovingly  ;  who  restored  health  to  the  leper  that  requested  it  of  Him  ; 
enlightened  him  that  was  blind  from  his  birth ;  fed  the  hungry  multitude 
in  the  wilderness. ' '  And  again  he  says,  ' '  The  stretched-out  hands  denote 
the  kindness  of  the  parent,  who  desires  to  receive  his  children  to  his 
breast."  And  thus  let  thy  hands  be  so  stretched  out  to  the  poor  that  thou 
mayest  be  able  to  say,  "My  soul  is  always  in  my  hand."  For  that  which 
is  held  in  the  hand  is  not  easily  forgotten.  So  he  may  be  said  to  call  his 
soul  to  memory,  who  carries  it,  as  it  were,  in  his  hands  through  the  good 
opinion  that  men  conceive  of  it.  His  hands  were  fixed,  that  they  may 
instruct  thee  to  hold  back  thy  hands,  with  the  nails  of  fear,  from  unlawful 
or  harmful  works. 

That  glorious  breast,  in  which  are  hidden  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom 
and  knowledge,  is  pierced  with  the  lance  of  a  soldier,  to  the  end  that  thy 
j  heart  might  be  cleansed  from  evil  thoughts,  and  being  cleansed  might  be 
sanctified,  and  being  sanctified  might  be  preserved.  The  feet,  whose  foot- 
stool the  prophets  commanded  to  be  sanctified,  were  bitterly  nailed  to  the 
cross,  lest  thy  feet  should  sustain  evil,  or  be  swift  to  shed  blood  ;  but, 
running  in  the  way  of  the  Lord,  stable  in  his  path,  and  fixed  in  his  road, 
might  not  turn  aside  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left.  What  could  have 
been  done  more  ? 


MARTIN  LUTHER  (U834546) 

THE  FATHER  OF  THE    REFORMATION 


I  T  In  the  year  1521,  when  Martin  Luther  agreed  to  attend  the 
j  I  I  diet  (or  national  assembly)  of  the  German  Empire  at  Worms, 
with  the  safe-conduct  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  in  his  pocket, 
his  friends  did  their  best  to  dissuade  him  from  entering  that  city. 
Luther's  reply  is  significant  of  the  indomitable  character  of  the  man  : 
"  Were  there  as  many  devils  in  Worms  as  tiles  upon  the  roofs  of  the 
houses,  still  would  I  enter/'  Fortunately  for  Luther,  Charles  was  a 
man  of  honor,  and  although  Luther  defended  his  position  and  refused 
to  retract,  he  was  permitted  to  leave  W^orms — though  the  empero 
decreed  that  he  should  be  seized  as  soon  as  his  safe-conduct  had  ex- 
pired. But  before  that  happened  he  was  safely  concealed  in  the 
solitary  castle  of  Wartburg,  under  guard  of  a  party  of  friendly  knights. 
When  he  left  that  place  of  refuge  the  peril  had  passed  away. 

Luther  was  a  man  of  strong  zeal  and  intrepidity.  His  being  called 
to  Worms  was  due,  not  to  his  attacks  upon  the  priesthood,  but  to  his 
denial  of  the  authority  of  the  pope,  whom  he  had  assailed  with  all  the 
fierce  invective  and  vituperation  which  were  common  in  the  contro- 
versies of  that  age.  A  provocation  of  this  kind  the  Church  w^as  not 
likely  to  let  pass,  and  Luther's  visit  to  Worms  was  attended  with 
imminent  peril.  He  met  it  fearlessly,  disdainful  of  death  or  danger 
in  face  of  the  mission  of  his  life. 

DEFENCE  BEFORE  THE  DIET  AT  WORMS 

[The  charge  against  lyuther  was  that  he  had  written   and   disseminated   false 

doctrines  and  virulent  attacks  on  the  Church,  the  priesthood,  and  the  pope,  and  he 

was  summoned  to  Worms  with  the  demand  that  he  should  retract  his  heretical 

writings.     He  defended  himself  with  tact  and  prudence,  but  with  no  yielding.] 

438 


a 

I 


fl 


martin  luther  439 

Most  Skrknk  Emperor,  Illustrious  Princbjs,  Gracious  Lords  : 

In  obedience  to  your  commands  given  me  yesterday,  I  stand  here, 
beseeching  you,  as  God  is  merciful,  so  to  deign  mercifully  to  listen  to  this 
cause  ;  which  is,  as  I  believe,  the  cause  of  justice  and  of  truth.  And  if, 
through  inexperience,  I  should  fail  to  apply  to  any  his  proper  title,  or 
offend  in  any  way  against  the  manners  of  courts,  I  entreat  you  to  pardon 
me  as  one  not  conversant  with  courts,  but  rather  with  the  cells  of  monks, 
and  claiming  no  other  merit  than  that  of  having  spoken  and  written  with 
that  simplicity  of  mind  which  regards  nothing  but  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  pure  instruction  of  the  people  of  Christ. 

Two  questions  have  been  proposed  to  me  :  Whether  I  acknowledge 
the  books  which  are  published  in  my  name,  and  whether  I  am  determined 
to  defend  or  disposed  to  recall  them.  To  the  first  of  these  I  have  given  a 
direct  answer,  in  which  I  shall  ever  persist,  that  these  books  are  mine  and 
published  by  me,  except  in  so  far  as  they  may  have  been  altered  or  interpo- 
lated by  the  craft  or  officiousness  of  rivals.  To  the  other  I  am  now  about 
to  reply  ;  and  I  must  first  entreat  your  Majesty  and  your  Highnesses  to 
deign  to  consider  that  my  books  are  not  all  of  the  same  description. 
For  there  are  some  in  which  I  have  treated  the  piety  of  faith  and  morals 
with  simplicity  so  evangelical  that  my  very  adversaries  confess  them  to 
be  profitable  and  harmless,  and  deserving  the  perusal  of  a  Christian. 
Even  the  pope's  bull,  fierce  and  cruel  as  it  is,  admits  some  of  my  books  to 
be  innocent ;  though  even  those,  with  a  monstrous  perversity  of  judg- 
ment, it  includes  in  the  same  sentence.  If,  then,  I  should  think  of 
retracting  these,  should  I  not  stand  alone  in  my  condemnation  of  that 
truth  which  is  acknowledged  by  the  unanimous  confession  of  all,  whether 
friends  or  foes  ? 

The  second  species  of  my  publications  is  that  in  which  I  have 
inveighed  against  the  papacy  and  the  doctrine  of  the  papists,  as  of  men 
who  by  their  iniquitous  tenets  and  examples  have  desolated  the  Christian 
world,  both  with  spiritual  and  temporal  calamities.  No  man  can  deny  or 
dissemble  this.  The  sufferings  and  complaints  of  all  men  are  my  wit- 
nesses that,  through  the  laws  of  the  pope  and  the  doctrines  of  men,  the 
consciences  of  the  faithful  have  been  ensnared,  tortured,  and  torn  in 
pieces  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  their  property  and  substance  have  been 
devoured  by  an  intolerable  tyranny,  and  are  still  devoured  without  end 
and  by  degrading  means  ;  and  that  too,  most  of  all,  in  this  noble  nation 
of  Germany.  Yet  it  is  with  them  a  perpetual  statute,  that  the  laws  and 
doctrines  of  the  pope  be  held  erroneous  and  reprobate  when  they  are  con- 
trary to  the  Gospel  and  the  opinions  of  the  Fathers. 

If,  then,  I  shall  retract  these  books,  I  shall  do  no  other  than  add 


440  MARTIN    LUTHER 

Strength  to  tyranny,  and  throw  open  doors  to  this  great  impiety,  which 
will  then  stride  forth  more  widely  and  licentiously  than  it  hath  dared 
hitherto  ;  so  that  the  reign  of  iniquity  will  proceed  with  entire  impunity, 
and,  notwithstanding  its  intolerable  oppression  upon  the  suffering  vulgar,  be 
further  still  fortified  and  established  ;  especially  when  it  shall  be  pro- 
claimed that  I  have  been  driven  to  this  act  by  the  authority  of  your  serene 
Majesty  and  the  whole  Roman  Empire.  What  a  cloak,  blessed  Lord, 
should  I  then  become  for  wickedness  and  despotism  ! 

In  a  third  description  of  my  writings  are  those  which  I  have  pub- 
lished against  individuals,  against  the  defenders  of  the  Roman  tyranny 
and  the  subverters  of  the  piety  taught  b}''  men.  Against  these  I  do  freely 
confess  that  I  have  written  with  more  bitterness  than  was  becoming  either 
my  religion  or  my  profession  ;  for,  indeed,  I  lay  no  claim  to  any  special 
sanctity,  and  argue  not  respecting  my  own  life,  but  respecting  the  doctrine 
of  Christ.  Yet  even  these  writings  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  retract,  seeing 
that  through  such  retraction  despotism  and  impiety  would  reign  under 
my  patronage,  and  rage  with  more  than  their  former  ferocity  against  the 
people  of  God. 

Yet  since  I  am  but  man  and  not  God,  it  would  not  become  me  to  go 
farther  in  defence  of  my  tracts  than  my  Lord  Jesus  went  in  defence  of  His 
doctrine ;  who,  when  he  was  interrogated  before  Annas,  and  received  a 
blow  from  one  of  the  oflBcers,  answered:  **  If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear 
witness  of  the  evil ;  but  if  well,  why  smitest  thou  me  ?  "  If,  then,  the 
Lord  himself,  who  knew  His  own  infallibility,  did  not  disdain  to  require 
arguments  against  His  doctrine  even  from  a  person  of  low  condition, 
how  much  rather  ought  I,  who  am  the  dregs  of  the  earth  and  the  very  slave 
of  error,  to  inquire  and  search  if  there  be  any  to  bear  witness  against  my 
doctrine!  Wherefore,  I  entreat  you,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  if  there 
be  any  one  of  any  condition  who  has  that  ability,  let  him  overpower  me 
by  the  sacred  writings,  prophetical  and  evangelical.  And  for  my  own 
part,  as  soon  as  I  shall  be  better  instructed  I  will  retract  my  errors  and 
be  the  first  to  cast  my  books  into  the  flames. 

[It  being  demanded  that  he  should  return  a  simple  answer  to  a  simple  question, 
whether  he  would  retract  or  not,  he  said  :] 

I  Cannot  but  choose  to  adhere  to  the  Word  of  God,  which  has  p( 
sion  of  my  conscience  ;  nor  can  I  possibly,  nor  will  I,  ever  make  ai 
recantation,  since  it  is  neither  safe  nor  honest  to  act  contrary  to  conscienc 
Here  I  stand  ;  I  cannot  do  otherwise  ;  so  help  me  God  !     Amen  ! 


JOHN  CALVIN  (J 5094564) 

THE  FAMOUS  REFORMER  AND  PREACHER 


AFTER  Luther,  the  leader  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  Calvin 
was  the  greatest  of  those  who  broke  away  from  the  Church  of 
^  Rome,  preached  new  doctrines  and  established  a  new  Church. 
Destined  for  the  Roman  clergy,  and  appointed  cure  of  Marteville, 
France,  when  only  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  early  dissented  from  the 
theology  of  his  Church,  and  began  to  preach  the  new  doctrines  of  the 
Protestant  faith.  Soon  he  made  France  too  hot  for  him,  and  fled  from 
place  to  place,  until  he  finally  found  a  refuge  in  Geneva,  Switzerland, 
where  he  founded  a  church  and  developed  a  sectarian  faith  which  has 
since  made  its  way  throughout  the  Christian  world. 

Calvin  was  exceptionally  clear  and  exact  as  a  theological  writer 
and  acutely  logical  as  a  reasoner.  Beza,  one  of  his  admirers,  speaks 
in  high  terms  of  his  oratory,  saying  that  he  "  taught  the  truth,  not 
with  affected  eloquence,  but  with  such  solid  gravity  of  style  that  there 
was  not  a  man  who  could  hear  him  without  being  ravished  with 
admiration/' 

THE  COURAGE  OF  A  CHRISTIAN 

[As  an  example  of  Calvin's  style  of  preaching  we  offer  a  brief  extract  from  a 
sermon  on  the  necessity  of  enduring  persecution,  and  the  reasons  for  doing  so  with 
courage  and  fortitude.] 

A  heathen  could  say  that  * '  It  was  a  miserable  thing  to  save  life  by 
giving  up  the  only  things  which  made  life  desirable  !  "  And  yet  he,  and 
others  like  him,  never  knew  for  what  end  men  are  placed  in  the  world, 
and  why  they  live  in  it.  It  is  true  they  knew  enough  to  say  that  men 
ought  to  follow  virtue,  to  conduct  themselves  honestly  and  without 
reproach  ;  but  all  their  virtues  were  mere  paint  and  smoke.  We  know 
far  better  what  the  chief  aim  of  life  should  be  ;  namely,  to  glorify  God, 

441 


442  JOHN  CALVIN 

in  order  that  he  may  be  our  glory.  When  this  is  not  done,  woe  to  us ! 
And  we  cannot  continue  to  live  for  a  single  moment  upon  the  earth  with- 
out heaping  additional  curses  on  our  heads.  Still,  we  are  not  ashamed 
to  purchase  some  few  days  to  languish  here  below,  renouncing  the  eternal 
kingdom  by  separating  ourselves  from  Him  by  whose  energy  we  are  sus- 
tained in  life. 

Were  we  to  ask  the  most  ignorant,  not  to  say  the  most  brutish,  per- 
sons in  the  world  why  they  live,  they  would  not  venture  to  answer  simply, 
that  it  is  to  eat,  and  drink,  and  sleep  ;  for  all  know  that  they  have  been 
created  for  a  higher  and  holier  end.  And  what  end  can  we  find  if  it  be 
not  to  honor  God,  and  allow  ourselves  to  be  governed  by  Him,  like  chil- 
dren by  a  good  parent ;  so  that  after  we  have  finished  the  journey  of  this 
corruptible  life,  we  may  be  received  into  His  eternal  inheritance!  Such 
is  the  principal,  indeed  the  sole  end.  When  we  do  not  take  it  into 
account,  and  are  intent  on  a  brutish  life,  which  is  worse  than  a  thousand 
deaths,  what  can  we  allege  for  our  excuse  ?  To  live  and  not  know  why, 
is  unnatural.  To  reject  the  causes  for  which  we  live,  under  the  influence 
of  a  foolish  longing  for  a  respite  of  some  few  days,  during  which  we  are 
to  live  in  the  world,  while  separated  from  God — I  know  not  how  to  name 
such  infatuation  and  madness  !  .    .    .    . 

It  were  easy,  indeed,  for  God  to  crown  us  at  once,  without  requiring 
us  to  sustain  any  combats  ;  but  as  it  is  His  pleasure  that  until  the  end  of 
the  world  Christ  shall  reign  in  the  midst  of  His  enemies,  so  it  is  also  His 
pleasure  that  we,  being  placed  in  the  midst  of  them,  shall  suffer  their 
oppression  and  violence  till  He  deliver  us.  I  know,  indeed,  that  the  flesh 
kicks  when  it  is  to  be  brought  to  this  point,  but  still  the  will  of  God  must 
have  the  mastery.  If  we  feel  some  repugnance  in  ourselves,  it  need  not 
surprise  us  ;  for  it  is  only  too  natural  for  us  to  shun  the  cross.  Still  let 
us  not  fail  to  surmount  it,  knowing  that  God  accepts  our  obedience,  pre 
vided  we  bring  all  our  feelings  and  wishes  into  captivity,  and  make  thei 
subject  to  him 

In  ancient  times,  vast  numbers  of  people,  to  obtain  a  simple  crowi 
of  leaves,  refused  no  toil,  no  pain,  no  trouble  ;  nay,  it  even  cost  them 
nothing  to  die,  and  yet  every  one  of  them  fought  for  a  perad venture,  not 
knowing  whether  he  was  to  gain  or  lose  the  prize.  God  holds  forth  to 
the  immortal  crown  by  which  we  may  become  partakers  of  His  glory^j 
He  does  not  mean  us  to  fight  at  haphazard,  but  all  of  us  have  a  promis 
of  the  prize  for  which  we  strive.  Have  we  any  cause  then  to  decline 
struggle  ?  Do  we  think  it  has  been  said  in  vain,  "  If  we  die  with  Jest 
Christ  we  shall  also  live  with  Him  ?  ' '  Our  triumph  is  prepared,  and 
we  do  all  we  can  to  shun  the  combat. 


JACQUES  BENIGNE  BOSSUET  (16274704) 

FRANCE^S  GREATEST  PULPIT  ORATOR 


[-T^JHREE  great  contemporary  orators  graced  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV., 
I  A  I  Bossuet,  Fenelon  and  Bourdaloue,  followed  by  a  fourth,  Mas- 
^  '  sillon,  in  the  later  years  of  the  reign  of  the  "Grand  Monarque." 
Of  these,  Bossuet  has  by  some  been  ranked  with  Mirabeau  as  the 
greatest  of  French  orators,  though  to-day  he  does  not  find  as  many 
readers  as  his  rival,  Fenelon.  Bossuet  became  the  recognized  champ- 
ion in  France  of  the  Romish  Church,  converting  many  Protestants 
by  his  sermons  at  Metz,  and  numbering  the  Marshal  de  Turenne  among 
his  converts  at  Paris.  He  was  distinguished  not  alone  for  eloquence, 
but  made  himself  famous  also  by  his  writings.  His  "Discourse  on 
Universal  History,"  says  Hallam,  "  is  perhaps  the  greatest  effort  of 
his  wonderful  genius."  .  .  .  Among  his  most  admired  productions  are 
six  funeral  orations,  those  on  Henrietta  Maria,  Queen  of  England,  and 
on  the  Prince  dcConde  being  especially  famous  as  models  of  eloquence. 

THE  DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  OF  CONDE 

[We  cannot  give  a  better  example  of  Bossuet's  powers  than  by  selecting  from 
his  noble  address  in  memory  of  his  friend,  the  great  Conde.  It  is  highly  eulogistic 
throughout,  and  in  this  style  of  oratorical  composition  remains  unsurpassed.  We 
append  the  closing  section  of  this  admirable  address,  in  which  the  story  of  a  great  life 
is  supplemented  by  that  of  a  noble  death.] 

The  Prince  of  Cond6  grew  weaker,  but  death  concealed  his  approach. 
When  he  seemed  to  be  somewhat  restored,  and  the  Duke  d'Enghien,  ever 
occupied  between  his  duties  as  a  son  and  his  duties  as  a  subject,  had 
returned  by  his  order  to  the  king,  in  an  instant  all  was  changed,  and  his 
approaching  death  was  announced  to  the  prince.  Christians,  give  atten- 
tion, and  here  learn  to  die,  or  rather  learn  not  to  wait  for  the  last  hour 
to  begin  to  live  well.     What  I  expect  to  commence  a  new  life  when,  seized 

.  443 


444  JACQUES  BENIGNE  BOSSUET 

by  the  freezing  grasp  of  death,  ye  know  not  whether  ye  are  among  the 
living  or  the  dead  ?  Ah  !  prevent,  by  penitence,  that  hour  of  trouble  and 
darkness  !  Thus,  without  being  surprised  at  that  final  sentence  communi- 
cated to  him,  the  Prince  remained  for  a  moment  in  silence,  and  then  all  at 
once  exclaimed  :  *'Thou  dost  will  it,  O  my  God,  thy  will  be  done  !  Give 
me  grace  to  die  well  !  ' '  What  more  could  you  desire  ?  In  that  brief 
prayer  you  see  submission  to  the  will  of  God,  reliance  on  His  Providence, 
trust  in  His  grace,  and  all  devotion. 

From  that  time,  such  as  he  had  been  in  all  combats — serene,  self- 
possessed,  and  occupied  without  anxiety,  only  with  what  was  necessary 
to  sustain  them — such  also  he  was  in  that  last  conflict.  Death  appeared 
to  him  no  more  frightful,  pale,  and  languishing,  than  amid  the  fires  of 
battle  and  in  the  prospect  of  victory.  While  sobbings  were  heard  all 
around  him,  he  continued,  as  if  another  than  himself  were  their  object,  to 
give  his  orders  ;  and  if  he  forbade  them  weeping,  it  was  not  because  it 
was  a  distress  to  him,  but  simply  a  hindrance.  At  that  time  he  extended 
his  cares  to  the  least  of  his  domestics.  With  a  liberality  worthy  of  his 
birth  and  of  their  services,  he  loaded  them  with  gifts,  and  honored  them 
still  more  with  mementos  of  his  regard 

Tranquil  in  the  arms  of  his  God,  he  waited  for  His  salvation,  and 
implored  His  support  until  he  finally  ceased  to  breathe.  And  here  our 
lamentations  ought  to  break  forth  at  the  loss  of  so  great  a  man.  But  for 
the  love  of  the  truth,  and  the  shame  of  those  who  despise  it,  listen  once 
more  to  that  noble  testimony  which  he  bore  to  it  in  dying.  Informed  by 
his  confessor  that  if  our  heart  is  not  entirely  right  with  God,  we  must,  in 
our  addresses,  ask  God  himself  to  make  it  such  as  he  pleases,  and  address 
Him  in  the  affecting  language  of  Davjd,  "  O  God,  create  in  me  a  clean 
heart."  Arrested  by  these  words,  the  prince  pauses,  as  if  occupied  by 
some  great  thought ;  then  calling  the  ecclesiastic  who  had  suggested  the 
idea,  he  says  :  ''  I  have  never  doubted  the  mysteries  of  religion,  as  some 
have  reported."  Christians,  ye  ought  to  believe  him  ;  for  in  the  state  he 
then  was,  he  owed  to  the  world  nothing  but  truth.  '  *  But, "  added  he, 
doubt  them  less  than  ever.  May  these  truths,"  he  continued,  "  reves 
and  develop  themselves  more  and  more  clearly  in  my  mind.  Yes  !  "  saj 
he,  "  we  shall  see  God  as  He  is,  face  to  face  !  "  With  a  wonderful  relis 
he  repeated  in  Latin  those  lofty  words — "  As  He  is — face  to  face  !  "  N< 
could  those  around  him  grow  weary  of  seeing  him  in  so  sweet  a  transpoi 

What  was  then  taking  place  in  that  soul  !     What  new  light  dawne 
upon  him  ?     What  sudden  ray  pierced  the  cloud,  and  instantly  dissipate 
not  only  all  the  darkness  of  sense,  but  the  very  shadows,  and,  if  I  dare 
say   it,    the   sacred    obscurities  of  faith  ?     What   then   became  of  th< 


I 


JACQUES    BENIGNE  BOSSUET  445 

splendid  titles  by  which  our  pride  is  flattered  ?  On  the  very  verge  of  glory, 
and  in  the  dawning  of  a  light  so  beautiful,  how  rapidly  vanish  the  phan- 
toms of  the  world  !  How  dim  appears  the  splendor  of  the  most  glorious 
victory  !  How  profoundly  we  despise  the  glory  of  the  world,  and  how 
deeply  regret  that  our  eyes  were  ever  dazzled  by  its  radiance.  Come,  ye 
people,  come  now — or  rather  ye  princes  and  lords,  ye  judges  of  the  earth, 
and  ye  who  open  to  man  the  portals  of  heaven  ;  and  more  than  all  others, 
ye  princes  and  princesses,  nobles  descended  from  a  long  line  of  kings, 
lights  of  France,  but  to-day  in  gloom,  and  covered  with  your  grief,  as 
with  a  cloud, — come  and  see  how  little  remains  of  a  birth  so  august,  a 
grandeur  so  high,  a  glory  so  dazzling  !  Look  around  on  all  sides,  and  see 
all  that  magnificence  and  devotion  can  do  to  honor  so  great  a  hero  ;  titles 
and  inscriptions,  vain  signs  of  that  which  is  no  more — shadows  which 
weep  around  a  tomb,  fragile  images  of  a  grief  which  time  sweeps  away 
with  everything  else  ;  columns  which  appear  as  if  they  would  bear  to 
heaven  the  magnificent  evidence  of  our  emptiness ;  nothing,  indeed,  is 
wanting  in  all  these  honors  but  he  to  whom  they  are  rendered  !  Weep 
then  over  these  feeble  remains  of  human  life ;  weep  over  that  mournful 
immortality  we  give  to  heroes. 

But  draw  near,  especially  ye  who  run;  with  such  ardor,  the  career  of 
glory,  intrepid  and  warrior  spirits  !  Who  was  more  worthy  to  command 
you,  and  in  whom  did  ye  find  command  more  honorable  ?  Mourn  then 
that  great  Captain,  and  weeping,  say  :  ' '  Here  is  a  man  that  led  us  through 
all  hazards,  under  whom  were  formed  so  many  renowned  captains,  raised 
by  his  example,  to  the  highest  honors  of  war  ;  his  shadow  might  yet 
gain  battles  ;  and  lo  !  in  his  silence  his  very  name  animates  us,  and  at  the 
same  time  warns  us,  that  to  find,  at  death,  some  rest  from  our  toils,  and 
not  arrive  unprepared  at  our  eternal  dwelling,  we  must,  with  an  earthly 
king,  yet  serve  the  King  of  Heaven."  Serve,  then,  that  immortal  and 
ever  merciful  King,  who  will  value  a  sigh,  or  a  cup  of  cold  water,  given 
in  His  name,  more  than  all  others  will  value  the  shedding  of  your  blood. 
And  begin  to  reckon  the  time  of  your  useful  services  from  the  day  on 
which  you  gave  yourselves  to  so  beneficent  a  Master.  Will  not  ye  too 
come,  ye  whom  he  honored  by  making  you  his  friends  ?  To  whatever 
extent  you  enjoyed  this  confidence,  come  all  of  you,  and  surround  this 
tomb.  Mingle  your  prayers  with  your  tears  ;  and  while  admiring,  in  so 
great  a  prince,  a  friendship  so  excellent,  an  intercourse  so  sweet,  preserve 
the  remembrance  of  a  hero  whose  goodness  equaled  his  courage.  Thus 
may  be  ever  prove  your  cherished  instructor  ;  thus  may  you  profit  by 
his  virtues  ;  and  may  his  death,  which  you  deplore,  serve  you  at  once  for 
consolation  and  example. 


LOUIS  BOURDALOUE  (J 632-1 704) 

THE  COURT  PREACHER  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 


mHE  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France  was  distinguished  by  a 
trio  of  eminent  pulpit  orators,  among  whom  Bourdaloue  was 
one  of  the  most  esteemed.  Louis  was  so  charmed  by  his  ser- 
mons that  he  said,  he  *'  loved  better  to  hear  the  repetitions  of  Bourda- 
loue than  the  novelties  of  any  other  preacher."  And  Madame  de 
Sevigne,  in  her  inimitable  letters,  speaks  of  "  his  beautiful,  his  noble, 
his  astonishing  sermons."  Appointed  court-preacher  at  Paris  in  1669, 
for  more  than  twenty  years  he  preached  during  Lent  and  Advent. 

THE  PASSION  OF  CHRIST 

[One  of  the  most  famous  of  the  sermons  preached  by  Bourdaloue  before  King 
Louis,  was  that  on  the  Passion  of  Christ.  From  this  we  select  a  passage  sufficient  to 
show  how  aptly  and  effectively  he  applied  this  topic  to  the  prevailing  sins  of  the 
court  and  the  world.] 

The  Passion  of  Jesus  Christ,  however  sorrowful  and  ignominious  it 
may  appear  to  us,  must  nevertheless  have  been  to  Jesus  Christ  himself  ai 
object  of  delight,  since  this  God-man,  by  a  wonderful  secret  of  His  wisdoi 
and  love,  has  willed  that  the  mystery  of  it  shall  be  continued  and  solemnl] 
renewed  in  His  Church  until  the  final  consummation  of  the  world.     F( 
what  is  the  Eucharist  but  a  perpetual  repetition  of  the  Saviour's  Passion^ 
and  what  has  the  Saviour  proposed  in  instituting  it,  but  that  whatev€ 
passed  at  Calvary  is  not  only  represented  but  consummated  on  our  altars 
That  is  to  say,  that  He  is  still  performing  the  functions  of  the  victim  ane> 
and  is  every  moment  virtually  sacrificed,  as  though  it  were  not  suflSciei 
that  He  should  have  suffered  once.     At  least  that  His  love,  as  powerft 
as  it  is  free,  has  given  to  His  adorable  sufferings  that  character  of  perpetuitj 
which  they  have  in  the  Sacrament,  and  which  renders  them  so  salutary 
us.     Behold,  Christians,  what  the  love  of  a  God  has  devised  ;  but  beholc 
446 


I 


LOUIS   BOURDALOUE  447 

also,  what  has  happened  through  the  malice  of  men  !  At  the  same  time 
that  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  sacrament  of  His  body,  repeats  His  holy  Passion 
in  a  manner  altogether  mysterious,  men,  the  false  imitators,  or  rather  base 
corruptors,  of  the  works  of  God,  have  found  means  to  renew  this  same 
Passion,  not  only  in  a  profane,  but  in  a  criminal,  sacrilegious,  and  horrible 
manner. 

Do  not  imagine  that  I  speak  figuratively.  Would  to  God,  Christians, 
that  what  I  am  going  to  say  to  you  were  only  a  figure,  and  that  you  were 
justified  in  vindicating  yourselves  to-day  against  the  horrible  expressions 
which  I  am  obliged  to  employ  !  I  speak  in  the  literal  sense  ;  and  you 
ought  to  be  more  affected  with  this  discourse,  if  what  I  advance  appears 
to  you  to  be  overcharged  ;  for  it  is  by  your  excesses  that  it  is  so,  and  not 
by  my  words.  Yes,  my  dear  hearers,  the  sinners  of  the  age,  by  the  disor- 
der of  their  lives,  renew  the  bloody  and  tragic  Passion  of  the  Son  of  God 
in  the  world  ;  I  will  venture  to  say  that  the  sinners  of  the  age  cause  the 
Son  of  God,  even  in  the  state  of  glory,  as  many  new  passions  as  they  have 
committed  outrages  against  Him  by  their  actions  !  Apply  yourselves  to 
form  an  idea  of  them  ;  and  in  this  picture,  which  will  surprise  you, 
recognize  what  you  are,  that  you  may  weep  bitterly  over  yourselves  ! 
What  do  we  see  in  the  Passion  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  A  Divine  Saviour 
betrayed  and  abandoned  by  cowardly  disciples,  persecuted  by  pontiffs  and 
hypocritical  priests,  ridiculed  and  mocked  in  the  palace  of  Herod  by 
impious  courtiers,  placed  upon  a  level  with  Barabbas,  and  to  whom 
Barabbas  is  preferred  by  a  blind  and  inconstant  people,  exposed  to  the 
insults  of  libertinism,  and  treated  as  a  mocking  by  a  troop  of  soldiers 
equally  barbarous  and  insolent  ;  in  fine,  crucified  by  merciless  execu- 
tioners. Behold,  in  a  few  words,  what  is  most  humiliating  and  most  cruel 
in  the  death  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world  !  Then  tell  me  if  this  is  not 
precisely  what  we  now  see,  of  what  we  are  every  day  called  to  be  witnesses. 
L<et  us  resume  ;  and  follow  me. 

Betrayed   and   abandoned  by   cowardly   disciples :  such,    O    Divine 

Saviour,  has  been  Thy  destiny.     But  it  was  not  enough  that  the  Apostles, 

the  first  men  whom  Thou  didst  choose  for  Thine  own,  in  violation  of  the 

most  holy  engagement,  should  have  forsaken  Thee  in  the  last  scene  of 

Thy  life  ;  that  one  of  them  should  have  sold  Thee,  another  renounced 

;  Thee,  and  all  disgraced  themselves  by  a  flight  which  was,  perhaps,  the 

most  sensible  of  all  the  wounds  that  Thou  didst  feel  in  dying.     This 

wound  must  be  again  opened  by  a  thousand  acts  of  infidelity  yet  more 

1  scandalous.     Even  in  the  Christian  ages  we  must  see  men  bearing  the 

I  character  of  Thy  disciples,   and  not  having  the  resolution  to  sustain  it ; 

In  Christians,    prevaricators,    and   deserters    from    their    faith;    Christians 


448  LOUIS    BOURDALOUE 

ashamed  of  declaring  themselves  for  Thee,  not  daring  to  appear  what 
they  are,  renouncing  at  least  in  the  exterior  what  they  have  professed, 
flying  when  they  ought  to  fight ;  in  a  word.  Christians  in  form,  ready  to 
follow  Thee,  even  to  the  Supper,  when  in  prosperity  and  while  it  required 
no  sacrifice,  but  resolved  to  abandon  Thee  in  the  amount  of  temptation. 
It  is  on  your  account,  and  my  own,  my  dear  hearers,  that  I  speak,  and 
behold  what  ought  to  be  the  subject  of  our  sorrow. 

Remember,  but  with  fear  and  horror,  that  the  greatest  persecutors  of 
Jesus  Christ  are  not  lay  libertines,  but  wicked  priests  ;  and  that  among  the 
wicked  priests  those  whose  corruption  and  iniquity  are  covered  with  the 
veil  of  hypocricy  are  His  most  dangerous  and  cruel  enemies.  A  hatred 
disguised  under  the  name  of  zeal,  and  covered  with  the  specious  pretext 
of  observance  of  the  law,  was  the  first  movement  of  the  persecution 
which  the  Pharisees  and  the  priests  raised  against  the  Son  of  God.  L,et 
us  fear  lest  the  same  passion  should  blind  us  !  "  Wretched  passion," 
exclaims  Saint  Bernard,  **  which  spreads  the  venom  of  its  malignity  even 
over  the  most  lovely  of  the  children  of  men,  and  which  could  not  see  a 
God  upon  earth  without  hating  Him  !  "  A  hatred  not  only  of  prosperity 
and  happiness,  but  what  is  yet  more  strange,  of  the  merit  and  perfec- 
tion of  others  !  A  cowardly  and  shameful  passion,  which,  not  content 
with  having  caused  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  continues  to  persecute  Him 
by  rending  His  mystical  body,  which  is  the  Church  ;  dividing  His  mem- 
bers, which  are  believers  ;  and  stifling  in  their  hearts  that  charity  which 
is  the  spirit  of  Christianity  !  Behold,  my  brethren,  the  subtle  temptation  || 
against  which  we  have  to  defend  ourselves,  and  under  which  it  is  but 
too  common  for  us  to  fall ! 

A  Redeemer  reviled  and  mocked  in  the  palace  of  Herod  by  the  impi- 
ous creatures  of  his  court !  This  was,  without  doubt,  one  of  the  most 
sensible  insults  which  Jesus  Christ  received.  But  do  not  suppose,  Chri§-  . 
tians,  that  this  act  of  impiety  ended  there.  It  has  passed  from  the  cou^HI 
of  Herod,  from  that  prince  destitute  of  religion,  into  those  even  of  Chris- 
tian princes.  And  is  not  the  Saviour  still  a  subject  of  ridicule  to  the 
libertine  spirits  which  compose  them  ?  They  worship  Hiin  externally, 
but  internally  how  do  they  regard  His  maxims  ?  What  idea  have  they 
of  His  humility,  of  His  poverty,  and  of  His  sufferings  ?  Is  not  virtue 
either  unknown  or  despised  ?  It  is  not  a  rash  zeal  which  induces  me  to 
speak  in  this  manner  ;  it  is  what  you  too  often  witness.  Christians  ;  it  is 
what  you  perhaps  feel  in  yourselves  ;  and  a  little  reflection  upon  the  man- 
ners of  the  court  will  convince  you  that  there  is  nothing  that  I  say  which 
is  not  confirmed  by  a  thousand  examples,  and  that  you  yourselves  a: 
sometimes  unhappy  accomplices  in  these  crimes. 


I 


I 


FRANCOIS  FENELON  (J65J47J5) 

THE  MASTER  OF  FRENCH  ELOQUENCE 


B RANGE  has  produced  no  more  consummate  master  of  the  art  of 
graceful  oratory  than  Francois  de  Salignac  de  la  Motte  Fene- 
lon,  Archbishop  de  Cambray,  to  give  him  his  full  title.  He 
shared  with  Bossuet  and  Bourdaloue  the  honor  of  being  one  of  the 
three  great  orators  of  the  classic  age  of  Louis  XIV.  Though  an 
ecclesiastic  and  a  pulpit  orator  of  the  finest  powers,  as  an  author  he 
occupied  largely  the  secular  field,  producing  a  number  of  works,  of 
which  much  the  most  famous  is  the  admirable  "  Les  A  ventures  de 
Telemaque,"  still  one  of  the  most  popular  works  in  the  French  lan- 
guage. Appointed  by  Louis  XIV.  preceptor  to  his  grandson,  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  and  heir  to  the  throne,  Fenelon  wrote  several 
works  for  the  benefit  of  his  pupil,  one  of  them  being  "  Telemaque." 
This  brought  him  into  disgrace  with  Louis,  who  regarded  it  as  a  satire 
on  his  despotic  rule.  But  Fenelon,  though  banished  from  court,  made 
liimself  felt  from  his  archbishopric  of  Cambray,  and  was  honored  for 
\irtue  and  wisdom  throughout  Europe.  La  Bruy^re  says  :  "  We  feel 
the  power  and  ascendency  of  his  rare  genius,  whether  he  preaches 
without  preparation,  or  pronounces  a  studied  discourse,  or  explains 
his  thoughts  in  conversation.^'  Mathews  says  of  his  eloquence: 
'  What  cultivated  man  needs  to  be  told  of  the  sweet  persuasions  that 
dwelt  upon  the  tongue  of  the  Swan  of  Cambray?'' 

GOD  REVEALED  IN  NATURE 

[From  one  of  Fenelon 's  discourses  we  copy  the  following  treatment  of  the  oft- 
handled  subject  that  the  system  of  Nature  yields  indubitable  evidence  of  the  hand  of 
a  Creator.  There  is  nothing  original  in  his  argument,  but  the  subject  is  effectively 
handled.] 

29  449 


460  FRANCOIS    FENELON 

I  cannot  open  my  eyes  without  discovering  the  skill  that  everything 
in  nature  displays.  A  single  glance  enables  me  to  perceive  the  hand  that 
has  made  all  things.  Men  accustomed  to  meditate  iipon  abstract  truths, 
and  recur  to  first  principles,  recognize  the  Divinity  by  the  idea  of  Him 
they  find  in  their  minds.  But  the  more  direct  this  road  is,  the  more  it  is 
untrodden  and  neglected  by  common  men,  who  follow  their  own  imagina- 
tion. It  is  so  simple  a  demonstration,  that  from  this  very  cause  it  escapes 
those  minds  incapable  of  a  purely  intellectual  operation.  And  the  more 
perfect  this  way  of  discovering  the  Supreme  Being  is,  the  fewer  are  the 
minds  that  can  follow  it.  But  there  is  another  method  less  perfect,  but  more 
nearly  adapted  to  the  capacity  of  all.  Those  who  exercise  their  reason 
the  least,  those  who  are  the  most  affected  by  their  senses,  may,  at  a  single 
glance,  discover  Him  who  is  represented  in  all  His  works.  The  wisdom 
and  power  that  God  has  manifested  in  everything  He  has  made  reflect  the 
name  as  in  a  mirror  of  Him  whom  they  have  not  been  able  to  discover  in 
their  own  minds.  This  is  a  popular  philosophy  addressed  to  the  senses, 
which  every  one,  without  prejudice  or  passion,  is  capable  of  acquiring. 

A  man  whose  heart  is  entirely  engaged  in  some  grand  concern  might  | 
pass  many  days  in  a  room,  attending  to  his  affairs,  without  seeing  either 
the  proportions  of  the  room,  the  ornaments  on  the  chimney,  or  the  pic- 
tures that  surrounded  him.  All  these  objects  would  be  before  his  eyes, 
but  he  would  not  see  them,  and  they  would  make  no  impression  upon 
him.  Thus  it  is  that  men  live.  Everything  presents  God  to  them,  but 
they  do  not  see  Him.  He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by 
Him  ;  and,  nevertheless,  the  world  has  not  known  Him.  They  pass  their 
lives  without  seeing  this  representation  of  the  Deity,  so  completely  do  the 
fascinations  of  life  obscure  their  vision.  Saint  Augustine  says  that  the 
wonders  of  the  universe  are  lowered  in  our  estimation  by  their  repetition. 
Cicero  says  the  same  thing  :  ' '  Forced  to  view  the  same  things  every  day, 
the  mind  as  well  as  the  eye  is  accustomed  to  them.  It  does  not  admire 
nor  take  any  pains  to  discover  the  cause  of  events  that  it  always  observes 
to  take  place  in  just  the  same  way  ;  as  if  it  were  the  novelty  rather  than 
the  grandeur  of  a  thing  that  should  lead  us  to  this  investigation."  But 
all  nature  shows  the  infinite  skill  of  its  author.  I  maintain  that  accident, 
that  is,  a  blind  and  fortuitous  succession  of  events,  could  never  have  pro- 
duced all  we  see.  It  is  well  to  adduce  here  one  of  the  celebrated  compari- 
sons of  the  ancients. 

Who  would  believe  that  the  "  Iliad  "  of  Homer  was  not  composed  by 
the  efforts  of  a  great  poet,  but  that  the  characters  of  the  alphabet,  being 
thrown  confusedly  together,  an  accidental  stroke  had  placed  the  letters 
precisely  in  such  relative  positions  as  to  produce  verses  so  full  of  harmony 


FRANCOIS    FENELON  ^    —451 

and  variety,  painting  each  object  with  all  that  was  most  noble,  most 
graceful,  and  most  touching  in  its  features  ;  in  fine,  making  each  person 
speak  in  character  and  with  such  spirit  and  nature  ?  Let  any  one  reason 
with  as  much  subtlety  as  he  may,  he  would  persuade  no  man  in  his  senses 
that  the  *'  Iliad  "  had  no  author  but  accident.  Why,  then,  should  a  man 
possessing  his  reason  believe  with  regard  to  the  universe,  a  work  unques- 
tionably more  wonderful  than  the  "  Iliad,"  what  his  good  sense  will  not 
allow  him  to  regard  of  this  poem  ? 

[The  speaker  draws  some  other  illustrations  from  nature  and  the  works  of  man, 
and  then  considers  the  soul  of  man  and  the  mystery  of  its  action  and  effect  upon  the 
body.     He  concludes  as  follows  :] 

The  power  of  the  soul  over  the  body,  which  is  so  absolute,  is  at  the 
same  time  a  blind  one.  The  most  ignorant  man  moves  his  body  as  well 
as  the  best  instructed  anatomist.  The  player  on  the  flute  who  perfectly 
understands  all  the  chords  of  his  instrument,  who  sees  it  with  his  eyes  and 
touches  it  with  his  fingers,  often  makes  mistakes.  But  the  soul  that 
governs  the  mechanism  of  the  human  body  can  move  every  spring  without 
seeing  it,  without  understanding  its  figure,  or  situation,  or  strength  ;  and 
never  mistakes.  How  wonderful  is  this  !  My  soul  commands  what  it 
does  not  know,  what  it  cannot  see,  and  what  it  is  incapable  of  knowing, 
and  is  infallibly  obeyed  !  How  great  its  ignorance  and  how  great  its 
power  !  The  blindness  is  ours,  but  the  power — where  is  it  ?  To  whom 
shall  we  attribute  it,  if  not  to  Him  who  sees  what  man  cannot  see,  and 
gives  him  the  power  to  perform  what  passes  his  own  comprehension. 

Let  the  universe  be  overthrown  and  annihilated,  let  there  be  no 
inds  to  reason  upon  these  truths,  they  will  still  remain  equally  true  ;  as 
he  rays  of  the  sun  would  be  no  less  real  if  men  should  be  blind  and  not 
ee  them.  "In  feeling  assured,"  says  Saint  Augustine,  ''that  two  and 
o  make  four,  we  are  not  only  certain  that  we  say  what  is  true,  but  we 
ave  no  doubt  that  this  proposition  has  been  always,  and  will  continually 
nd  eternally  be  true." 

Let  man  then  admire  what  he  understands,  and  let  him  be  silent 

hen  he  cannot  comprehend.     There  is  nothing  in  the  universe  that  does 

ot  equally  bear  these  two  opposite  characters,  the  stamp  of  the  Creator 

nd  the  mark  of  the  nothingness  from  which  it  is  drawn,  and  into  which 

may  at  any  moment  be  resolved. 


JEAN  BAPTISTE  MASSILLON  (J 663- J 742) 

THE  FAMOUS  BISHOP  OF  CLERMONT 


aMONG  the  pulpit  orators  of  France,  Massillon  holds  a  place 
high  celebrity.  A  native  of  Provence,  his  life  was  chiefly 
spent  in  Paris,  where,  after  the  death  of  Bossuet  and  Boui 
daloue,  he  was  esteemed  the  ablest  of  preachers.  He  preached  before 
Louis  Xiy.,  delivered  the  funeral  sermon  of  the  great  monarch, 
and  in  1715,  after  being  made  Bishop  of  Clermont,  preached  before 
the  new  king  what  is  considered  his  masterpiece,  the  Lent  sermon, 
called  '^  Petit-Car^me."  Massillon's  diction  was  simple  and  unaffected, 
while  he  was  a  master  of  pathos  and  knew  how  to  penetrate  to  the 
depths  of  the  human  heart.  Voltaire  kept  a  volume  of  his  sermons 
constantly  on  his  desk,  as  a  model  of  eloquence,  and  thought  him 
"  the  preacher  who  best  understood  the  world. ^'  Louis  XIV.  gave 
strong  testimony  to  the  power  and  independence  of  spirit  of  Massil- 
lon in  his  remark  :  ''  Other  preachers  make  me  pleased  with  tliem, 
but  Massillon  makes  me  displeased  with  myself." 

THE  INIQUITY  OF  EVIL  SPEAKING 

[As  an  example  of  Massillon's  style  we  offer  the  following  brief  extract  from  one 
of  his  sermons,  in  which  the  harm  of  which  the  human  tongue  is  capable,  when 
turned  to  evil  speech,  is  vividly  portrayed.] 

The  tongue,  says  the  Apostle  James,  is  a  devouring  fire,  a  world  of 
iniquity,  an  unruly  evil,  full  of  deadly  poison.  And  behold  what  I  would 
have  applied  to  the  tongue  of  the  evil  speaker,  had  I  undertaken  to  give 
you  a  just  and  natural  idea  of  all  the  enormity  of  this  vice  ;  I  would  have 
said  that  the  tongue  of  the  slanderer  is  a  devouring  fire  which  tarnishes 
whatever  it  touches  ;  which  exercises  its  fury  on  the  good  grain,  equally 
as  on  the  chaff;  on  the  profane,  as  on  the  sacred;  which,  wherever  it 
452 


JEAN  BAPTISTE   MASSILLON  453 

passes,  leaves  only  desolation  and  ruin  ;  digs  even  into  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,  and  fixes  itself  on  things  the  most  hidden  ;  turns  into  vile  ashes 
what  only  a  moment  before  had  appeared  to  us  so  precious  and  brilliant  ; 
acts  with  more  violence  and  danger  than  ever  in  the  time  when  it  is 
apparently  smothered  up  and  almost  extinct ;  which  blackens  what  it 
cannot  consume,  and  sometimes  sparkles  and  delights  before  it  destroys. 

I  would  have  told  you  that  evil  speaking  is  an  assemblage  of  iniquity  ; 
a  secret  pride,  which  discovers  to  us  the  mote  in  our  brother's  eye,  but 
hides  the  beam  which  is  in  our  own  ;  a  mean  envy,  which,  hurt  at  the 
talents  or  prosperity  of  others,  makes  them  the  subject  of  its  censures, 
and  studies  to  dim  the  splendor  of  whatever  outshines  itself ;  a  disguised 
hatred,  which  sheds,  in  its  speeches,  the  hidden  venom  of  the  heart ;  an 
unworthy  duplicity,  which  praises  to  the  face  and  tears  to  pieces  behind 
the  back  ;  a  shameful  levity,  which  has  no  command  over  itself  or  its 
words,  and  often  sacrifices  both  fortune  and  comfort  to  the  imprudence  of 
an  amusing  conversation ;  a  deliberate  barbarity,  which  goes  to  pierce 
your  absent  brother  ;  a  scandal,  where  you  become  a  subject  of  shame  and 
sin  to  those  who  listen  to  you  ;  an  injustice,  where  you  ravish  from  your 
brother  what  is  dearest  to  him. 

I  should  have  said  that  slander  is  a  restless  evil,  which  disturbs 
society,  spreads  dissension  through  cities  and  countries,  disunites  the 
strictest  friendships  ;  is  the  source  of  hatred  and  revenge  ;  fills,  wherever 
!  it  enters,  with  disturbances  and  confusion,  and  everywhere  is  an  enemy  to 
peace,  comfort  and  Christian  good  breeding.  Lastly,  I  should  have 
added  that  it  is  an  evil  full  of  deadly  poison  ;  that  whatever  flows  from  it 
is  infected,  and  poisons  whatever  it  approaches  ;  that  even  its  praises  are 
empoisoned,  its  applauses  malicious,  its  silence  criminal,  its  gestures, 
motions,  and  looks,  have  all  their  venom,  and  spread  it  each  in  their  way. 

Behold  what  in  this  discourse  it  would  have  been  my  duty,  more  at 
large,  to  have  exposed  to  your  view,  had  I  not  proposed  to  paint  to  you 
only  the  vileness  of  the  vice  which  I  am  now  going  to  combat ;  but  as  I 
have  already  said,  these  are  only  general  invectives,  which  none  apply  to 
themselves.  The  more  odious  the  vice  is  represented,  the  less  do  you  per- 
ceive yourselves  concerned  in  it ;  and  though  you  acknowledge  the  prin- 
ciple, you  make  no  use  of  it  in  the  regulation  of  your  manners  ;  because, 
in  these  general  paintings,  we  always  find  features  which  do  not  resemble 
ourselves.  I  wish,  therefore,  to  confine  myself  at  present  to  the  single 
object  of  making  you  feel  all  the  injustice  of  that  description  of  slander 
which  you  think  the  more  innocent;  and,  lest  you  should  not  feel  your- 
self connected  with  what  I  shall  say,  I  shall  attack  it  only  in  the  pretext;s 
which  you  continually  employ  in  its  justification  .    .    .    . 


464  JEAN  BAPTISTE  MASSILLON 

I  know  that  it  is,  above  all,  by  the  innocency  of  the  intention  that 
you  pretend  to  justify  yourself;  that  you  continually  say  that  your  design 
is  not  to  tarnish  the  reputation  of  your  brother,  but  innocently  to  divert 
yourself  with  faults  which  do  not  dishonor  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  world. 
You,  my  dear  hearer,  to  divert  yourself  with  his  faults  !  But  what  is  that 
cruel  pleasure  which  carries  sorrow  and  bitterness  to  the  heart  of  your 
brother  ?  Where  is  the  innocency  of  an  amusement  whose  source  springs 
from  vices  which  ought  to  inspire  you  with  compassion  and  grief?  If 
Jesus  Christ  forbids  us  in  the  Gospel  to  invigorate  the  languors  of  conver- 
sation by  idle  words,  shall  it  be  more  permitted  to  you  to  enliven  it  by 
derisions  and  censures  ?  If  the  law  curses  him  who  uncovers  the  naked- 
ness of  his  relatives,  shall  you  who  add  raillery  and  insult  to  the  discovery 
be  more  protected  from  that  malediction  ?  If  whoever  call  his  brother 
fool  be  worthy,  according  to  Jesus  Christ,  of  eternal  fire,  shall  he  who 
renders  him  the  contempt  and  laughingstock  of  the  profane  assembly 
escape  the  same  punishment  ?  You,  to  amuse  yourself  with  his  faults  ! 
But  does  charity  delight  in  evil?  Is  that  rejoicing  in  the  L<ord,  as  com- 
manded by  the  apostle  ?  If  you  love  your  brother  as  yourself,  can  you 
delight  in  what  afflicts  him  ?  Ah  !  the  Church  formerly  held  in  horror 
the  exhibition  of  gladiators,  and  denied  that  believers,  brought  up  in  the - 
tenderness  and  benignity  of  Jesus  Christ,  could  innocently  feast  their  eyesB 
with  the  blood  and  death  of  these  unfortunate  slaves,  or  form  a  harmless 
recreation  of  so  inhuman  a  pleasure.  But  you  renew  more  detestable 
shows  to  enliven  your  languor ;  you  bring  upon  the  stage  not  infamous 
wretches  devoted  to  death,  but  members  of  Jesus  Christ,  your  brethren; 
and  then  you  entertain  the  spectators  with  wounds  which  you  inflict  on, 
persons  rendered  sacred  by  baptism.  Is  it  then  necessary  that  your  brother) 
should  suffer  to  amuse  you  ?  Can  you  find  no  delight  in  your  conversa- 
tions unless  his  blood,  as  I  may  say,  is  furnished  toward  your  iniquitous  j 
pleasure  ? 


BOOK  III 

British  Orators  of  the  Middle  Period 

FROM  the  days  of  the  decadence  of  classic  ora- 
tory to  those  of  the  famous  orators  of  Eng- 
land, France  and  the  United  States  who  gave 
lustre  to  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a 
period  elapsed  of  many  centuries  in  duration,  during 
which  the  voice  of  the  orator  was,  no  doubt,  abund- 
antly heard,  yet  few  examples  of  what  he  had  to  say 
were  put  upon  record,  and  these  much  more  largely 
in  the  Church  than  in  legislative  or  judicial  halls. 
That  in  so  extended  a  time  many  orators  of  marked 
ability  must  have  arisen  can  scarcely  be  questioned, 
though  we  do  not  possess  many  animated  examples 
of  the  art.  One  important  occasion  for  its  exercise 
was  the  Puritan  Revolution  in  England,  when  the 
halls  of  Parliament  rang  with  the  voices  of  such 
ardent  patriots  as  Eliot,  Pym  and  their  fellows.  Some 
of  the  speeches  of  these  have  been  preserved,  and 
forensic  oratory  also  has  left  us  some  interesting 
examples.  While,  as  above  said,  the  great  sum  of 
the  oratory  of  the  long  period  in  question  has  van- 
ished, some  of  it  has  found  a  foothold  in  literature. 
In  England  these  examples  chiefly  extend  from  the 
Elizabethan  reign  down  to  the  great  renaissance  of 
oratory  after  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  records  are  not  extensive.  We  have  not  a 
word,  for  instance,  from  an  orator  of  the  fame  of 
Lord  Bolingbroke.  Yet  others  have  been  more  for- 
tunate in  the  preservation  of  their  speeches,  and 
selections  from  some  of  the  more  notable  of  these 
may  be  fitly  given,  as  specimens  of  the  driftwood  of 
oratory  which  has  reached  us  from  the  past  cen- 
turies. 

46li 


FRANCIS  BACON  (1561-1626) 

THE  FOUNDER  OF  MODERN  SCIENCE 


mHAT  Bacon  was  the  author  of  the  plays  of  Shakespeare  has 
been  iterated  and  reiterated,  with  no  small  array  of  argu- 
ments, but  with  nothing  that  is  likely  to  be  accepted  as  proof. 
If  Bacon's  future  fame  was  to  depend  upon  the  outcome  of  this  con- 
tention, it  would  be  small  indeed.  Or,  if  it  depended  on  his  political 
reputation,  it  would  be  the  reverse  of  desirable,  since  his  craving  for 
power  and  place,  and  his  greed  of  money,  ended  in  his  being  con- 
victed of  accepting  bribes  and  perverting  justice,  and  sentenced  to  b^ 
fined  £40,000,  imprisoned  during  the  king's  pleasure,  and  banished 
from  Parliament  and  the  court.  A  sad  ending  this  to  what  might, 
but  for  the  faults  stated,  have  been  a  great  and  noble  career, 

Aside  from  all  this.  Bacon  was  intellectually  one  of  the  greatest 
men  of  his  age,  a  philosopher,  a  scientist,  an  essayist  of  the  highest 
type.  Most  important  among  his  works  is  the  "  Novum  Organum,  or 
Indications  Respecting  the  Interpretations  of  Nature,"  in  which  the 
inductive  system  of  science — the  observation  of  facts  and  drawing  of 
conclusions  from  them  alone — is  first  advanced.  Best  known  and 
most  read  among  his  works  is  his  "  Essays,"  concise  in  language,  pithy 
in  style,  marked  by  keenness  and  accuracy  of  observation,  and  full 
of  practical  wisdom.  Of  the  able  writers  of  that  great  age.  Bacon 
stands  next  to  Shakespeare  in  intellectual  power  and  elevation,  and 
in  modern  appreciation. 

THE  EVILS  OF  DUELING  Sj 

[A  contemporary  of  Bacon  speaks  of  him  as  "  the  eloquentest  man  in  Englan^^^ 
Those  who  read  such  examples  of  his  oratory  as  exist  will  scarcely  agree  with  this,  or 
admit  that  his  Star  Chamber   arguments  are  in  any  sense  eloquent.     For  the  latter 
quality  we  should  rather  seek  his  essays  than  his  speeches.  We  append  a  brief  example 
of  his  style.] 

456 


FRANCIS  BACON  457 

My  lords,  I  thought  it  fit  for  my  place,  and  for  these  times,  to  bring 
to  hearing  before  your  lordships  some  cause  touching  private  duels,  to  see 
if  this  Court  can  do  any  good  to  claim  and  reclaim  that  evil,  which  seems 
unbridled.  And  I  could  have  wished  that  I  could  have  met  with  some 
greater  persons,  as  a  subject  for  your  censure  ;  both  because  it  had  been 
more  worthy  of  this  presence,  and  also  the  better  to  have  shown  the  reso- 
lution I  myself  have  to  proceed  without  respect  of  persons  in  this  busi- 
ness. But  finding  this  cause  on  foot  in  my  predecessor's  time,  I  thought 
to.  lose  no  time  in  a  mischief  that  groweth  every  day  ;  and,  besides,  it 
passes  not  amiss  sometimes  in  government,  that  the  greater  sort  be 
admonished  by  an  example  made  in  the  meaner,  and  the  dog  to  be  eaten 
before  the  lion.  Nay,  I  should  think,  my  lords,  that  men  of  birth  and 
quality  will  leave  the  practice,  when  it  begins  to  be  vilified  and  to  come 
so  low  as  to  barber-surgeons  and  butchers,  and  such  base  mechanical  per- 
sons. And  for  the  greatness  of  this  presence,  in  which  I  take  much  com- 
fort, both  as  I  consider  it  in  itself,  and  much  more  in  respect  it  is  by  his 
Majesty's  direction,  I  will  supply  the  meanness  of  the  particular  cause 
by  handling  of  the  general  point ;  to  the  end  that  by  the  occasion  of  this 
present  cause,  both  my  purpose  of  prosecution  against  duels  and  the 
opinion  of  the  court — without  which  I  am  nothing — for  the  censure  of 
them  may  appear,  and  thereby  offenders  of  that  kind  may  read  their  own 
case,  and  know  what  they  are  to  expect ;  which  may  serve  for  a  warning 
until  example  may  be  made  in  some  greater  person, — which  I  doubt  the 
times  will  but  too  soon  afford. 

Therefore,  before  I  come  to  the  particular,  whereof  your  lordships  are 
now  to  judge,  I  think  the  time  best  spent  to  speak  somewhat  (i)  of  the 
nature  and  greatness  of  this  mischief ;  (  2)  of  the  causes  and  remedies  ;  (3)  of 
the  justice  of  the  law  of  England,  which  some  stick  not  to  think  defec- 
i  tive  in  this  matter  ;  (4)  of  the  capacity  of  this  Court,  where  certainly  the 
j  remedy  of  this  mischief  is  best  to  be  found  ;  (5)  touching  mine  own  pur- 
pose and  resolution,  wherein  I  shall  humbly  crave  your  lordships'  aid  and 
assistance. 

For  the  mischief  itself,  may  it  please  your  lordships  to  take  into  your 
consideration  that,  when  revenge  is  once  extorted  out  of  the  magistrate's 
hands,  contrary  to  God's  ordinance,  mihi  vifidicta,  ego  retribua?n ;  and 
every  man  shall  bear  the  sword,  not  to  defend,  but  to  assail,  and  private 
men  begin  once  to  presume  to  give  law  to  themselves  and  to  right  their 
own  wrongs  :  no  man  can  foresee  the  danger  and  inconveniences  that  may 
arise  and  multiply  thereupon.  It  may  cause  sudden  storms  in  Court  to 
the  disturbance  of  his  Majesty  and  unsafety  of  his  person.  It  may  grow 
from  quarrels  to  bandying,   and  from  bandying  to  trooping,  and  so  to 


458  FRANCIS   BACON 

tumult  and  commotion  ;  from  particular  persons  to  dissention  of  families 
and  alliances  ;  yes,  to  national  quarrels,  according  to  the  infinite  variety 
of  accidents,  which  fall  not  under  foresight.  So  that  the  state  by  this 
means  shall  be  like  to  a  distempered  and  imperfect  body,  continually  sub- 
ject to  inflammations  and  convulsions. 

Besides,  certainly  both  in  divinity  and  in  policy,  offenses  of  presump- 
tion are  the  greatest.  Other  offenses  yield  and  consent  to  the  law  that  it 
is  good,  not  daring  to  make  defense,  or  to  justify  themselves  ;  but  this 
offense  expressly  gives  the  law  an  affront,  as  if  it  were  two  laws,  one  a 
kind  of  gown  law  and  the  other  a  law  of  reputation,  as  they  term  it.  So 
that  Paul's  and  Westminister,  the  pulpit  and  the  Courts  of  justice,  must 
give  place  to  the  law,  as  the  King  speaketh  in  his  proclamation,  or  ordin- 
ary tables,  and  such  reverend  assemblies^  the  yearbooks  and  statute 
books  must  give  place  to  some  French  and  Italian  pamphlets,  which 
handle  the  doctrines  of  duels, — which,  if  they  be  in  the  right,  transeamus 
ad  ilia,  let  us  receive  them,  and  not  keep  the  people  in  conflict  and  dis- 
traction between  two  laws. 

Again,  my  lords,  it  is  a  miserable  effect,  when  young  men  full  of 
towardness  and  hope,  such  as  the  poets  call  "  Aurorce  filii,''  sons  of  the 
morning,  in  whom  the  expectation  and  comfort  of  their  friends  consisteth, 
shall  be  cast  away  and  destroyed  in  such  a  vain  manner.  But  much  more 
it  is  to  be  deplored  when  so  much  noble  and  genteel  blood  should  be  spilt 
upon  such  follies,  as,  if  it  were  adventured  in  the  field  in  service  of  the 
King  and  realm,  were  able  to  make  the  fortune  of  a  day  and  change  the 
future  of  a  kingdom.  So  your  lordships  see  what  a  desperate  evil  this  is : 
it  troubleth  peace  ;  it  disfurnisheth  war  ;  it  bringeth  calamity  upon  private 
men,  peril  upon  the  State,  and  contempt  upon  the  law. 


SIR  EDWARD  COKE  (15524633) 

THE  EMINENT  ENGLISH  JURIST 


mHE  name  of  Sir  Edward  Coke  is  one  of  the  most  famous  in 
English  legal  lore,  through  his  inestimable  work,  ''  Coke  upon 
Littleton,'^  which  is  of  the  highest  authority  in  English  law 
and  a  rich  mine  of  legal  learning.  Blackstone,  another  noted  legal 
author,  says  of  it :  "  He  hath  thrown  together  an  infinite  treasure  of 
learning  in  a  loose,  desultory  manner/'  Adopting  the  law  as  his 
profession,  Coke  rapidly  acquired  a  very  extensive  practice,  was 
appointed  Solicitor-General  in  1592  and  Attorney-General  in  1594, 
and  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  1593.  In  1613 
he  became  Chief-Justice  of  the  King's  Bench,  from  which  he  was 
removed  in  1616,  because  he  was  not  sufficiently  obseqious  to  the 
court  or  king.  In  1622,  he  was  imprisoned  for  months  in  the  Tower 
for  his  opposition  to  the  court  party,  and,  subsequently,  as  a  member 
of  Parliament,  he  zealously  opposed  the  arbitrary  measures  of  the 
court,  and  was  a  leader  of  the  popular  party.  He  has  been  severely 
censured  for  his  insolence  to  Raleigh  when  on  trial  before  him,  and 
for  his  cruelty  in  applying  torture  to  persons  charged  with  crime. 

THE  CHARGES  IN  RALEIGH^S  CASE 
[Coke's  oratory  was  chiefly  legal,  of  which  we  give  a  brief  example  from  his 
charge  in  the  trial  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  for  high-treason.  Raleigh  was  accused  in 
i6o2  of  taking  part  in  what  was  known  as  Lord  Cobham's  conspiracy  against  the  king. 
Tried  in  1603,  he  was  convicted  without  satisfactory  proof,  his  demeanor  during  the 
trial — in  which  Coke  assailed  him  with  great  severity — being  such  as  to  change  the 
public  hostility  to  sympathy  and  admiration.  In  the  following  Coke  marshals  against 
him  various  intended  deliuqueneies  with  which  Raleigh  had  nothing  to  do.] 

My  speech  shall  chiefly  touch  these  three  points  :  imitation,  supporta- 
tion,  and  defence.  The  imitation  of  evil  ever  exceeds  the  precedent;  as, 
on  the  contrary,  imitation  of  good  ever  comes  short.  Mischief  cannot  be 
supported  but  by  mischief;  yea,  it  will  so  multiply  that  it  will  bring  all 

459 


460  SIR  EDWARD  COKE 

to  confusion.  Mischief  is  ever  underpropped  by  falsehood  or  foul  prac- 
tices ;  and  because  all  these  things  did  occur  in  this  treason,  you  shall 
understand  the  ruin,  as  before  ye  did  the  bye. 

The  treason  of  the  bye  consisteth  in  these  points  :  First,  that  the 
Lords  Grey,  Brooks,  Markham,  and  the  rest  intended  by  force  in  the 
night  to  surprise  the  King's  Court,  which  was  a  rebellion  in  the  heart  of 
the  realm, — yea,  in  the  heart  of  the  heart,  in  the  Court.  They  intended  to 
take  him  that  is  a  sovereign  to  make  him  subject  to  their  power  ;  pur- 
posing to  open  the  doors  with  muskets  and  cavaliers,  and  to  take  also  the 
Prince  and  the  Council ;  then,  under  the  King's  authority,  to  carry  the 
King  to  the  Tower,  and  to  "make  a  stale  of  the  admiral. 

When  they  had  the  King  there  to  extort  three  things  from  him  :  First, 
a  pardon  for  all  their  treasons  ;  second,  a  toleration  of  the  Roman  super- 
stition— which  their  eyes  shall  sooner  fall  out  than  they  shall  ever  see  ; 
for  the  King  has  spoken  these  words  in  the  hearing  of  many  :  * '  I  will 
lose  the  crown  and  my  life  before  ever  I  will  alter  religion."  And,  third, 
to  remove  counselors. 

In  the  room  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  they  would  have  placed  one 
Watson,  a  priest,  absurd  inhumanity  and  ignorant  in  divinity.  Brook,  of 
whom  I  will  speak  nothing,  was  to  be  Lord  Treasurer.  The  Great  Secre- 
tary must  be  Markham,  oculus  patricB.  A  hole  must  be  found  in  my  Lord 
Chief-Justice's  coat.  Grey  must  be  Earl-Marshal  and  Master  of  the 
Horse,  because  he  would  have  a  table  in  the  Court ;  marry,  he  would 
advance  the  Earl  of  Worcester  to  a  higher  place. 

All  this  cannot  be  done  without  a  multitude  ;  therefore,  Watson,  the 
priest,  tells  a  resolute  man  that  the  King  was  in  danger  of  Puritans  and 
Jesuits,  so  as  to  bring  him  in  blindfold  into  the  action,  saying,  "That 
the  King  is  no  king  until  he  be  crowned  ;  therefore,  every  man  might 
right  his  own  wrongs."  But  he  is  rex  natus,  his  dignity  descends  as  well 
as  yours,  my  lords. 

Then  Watson  imposeth  a  blasphemous  oath,  that  they  should  swe 
to  defend  the  King's  person  ;  to  keep  secret  what  was  given  them  i^ 
charge  ;  and  seek  all  ways  and  means  to  advance  the  Catholic  religioi 
Then  they  intend  to  send  for  the  Lord  Mayor  and  the  alderman,  in  th^ 
King's  name,  to  the  Tower,  lest  they  should  make  any  resistance,  an( 
then  to  take  hostages  of  them,  and  to  enjoin  them  to  provide  for  thei 
victuals  and  munition.  Grey,  because  the  King  removed  before  midsum** 
mer,  had  a  further  reach  ;  to  get  a  company  of  swordsmen  to  assist  th( 
action  ;  therefore  he  would  stay  till  he  had  obtained  a  regiment  froi 
Ostend  or  Austria.  So  you  see  these  treasons  were  like  Sampson's  foxesj 
which  were  joined  in  their  tails  though  their  heads  were  severed. 


SIR  JOHN  ELIOT  (J590-t632) 

A  MARTYR  TO  ENGLISH  LIBERTY 


i 


IMONG  the  famous  statesmen  and  orators  of  the  Parliaments  of 
Charles  I.  Sir  John  Eliot  occupied  a  high  position,  and  was  a 
leader  among  those  who  protested  against  the  arbitrary  acts  of 
the  King.  The  impeachment  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  was  due  to 
a  powerful  speech  made  by  him,  and  for  this  he  was  imprisoned  for  a 
time  in  the  Tower.  Again,  in  1629,  he  offended  the  King  by  remon- 
strating against  his  acts  of  tyranny,  and  was  once  more  sent  to  prison 
for  his  boldness.  Here,  as  he  refused  to  retract,  he  was  confined  in 
a  dark  and  cheerless  apartment  which  ruined  his  health. 

As  an  orator  Eliot  had  remarkable  powers.  "He  had,"  says 
Forster,  '^  some  of  the  highest  qualities  as  an  orator — singular  power 
of  statement,  clearness  and  facility  in  handling  details,  pointed  classi- 
cal allusions,  keen  and  logical  argument,  forcible  and  rich  declama- 
tion." 

THE  PERILS  OF  THE  KINGDOM 

[On  the  3d  of  June,  1628,  Kliot  delivered  a  bold  speech  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, in  support  of  the  **  Petition  of  Right,"  in  which  he  brought  severe  and  daring 
charges  against  the  delinquency  of  the  Government,  attacking  it  in  a  strenuous 
manner,  which  strongly  recalls  that  of  Demosthenes.    We  give  his  eloquent  peroration.] 

The  exchequer,  you  know,  is  empty,  and,  the  reputation  thereof  gone  ; 
the  ancient  lands  are  sold  ;  the  jewels  pawned  ;  the  plate  engaged  ;  the 
debt  still  great ;  almost  all  charges,  both  ordinary  and  extraordinary, 
borne  up  by  projects  !  What  poverty  can  be  greater  ?  What  necessity  so 
great  ?  What  perfect  English  heart  is  not  almost  dissolved  into  sorrow 
for  this  truth  ? 

For  the  oppression  of  the  subject,  which,  as  I  remember,  is  the  next 
particular  I  proposed,  it  needs  no  demonstration.  The  whole  kingdom  is 
a  proof;  and,   for  the  exhausting  of  our  treasures,  that  very  oppression 

461 


462  SIR  JOHN  ELIOT 

Speaks  it.  What  waste  of  our  provisions,  what  consumption  of  our  ships, 
what  destruction  of  our  men  there  hath  been  ?  Witness  that  expedition 
to  Algiers  ;  witness  that  with  Mansfeldt ;  witness  that  to  Cadiz  ;  witness 
the  next — witness  that  to  Rhe  ;  witness  the  last  (I  pray  God  we  may  never 
have  more  such  witnesses  !) — witness,  likewise,  the  Palatinate ;  witness 
Denmark,  witness  the  Turks,  witness  the  Dunkirkers,  witness  all !  What 
losses  we  have  sustained  !  How  we  are  impaired  in  munitions,  in  ships, 
in  men  !  It  is  beyond  contradiction  that  we  were  never  so  weakened,  nor 
ever  had  less  hope  how  to  be  restored. 

These,  Mr.  Speaker,  are  our  dangers,  these  are  they  who  do  threaten 
us,  and  these  are,  like  the  Trojan  horse,  brought  in  cunningly  to  surprise 
us.  In  these  do  lurk  the  strongest  of  our  enemies,  ready  to  issue  on  us  ; 
and  if  we  do  not  speedily  expel  them,  these  are  the  signs,  these  are  the 
invitations  to  others  !  These  will  so  prepare  their  entrance  that  we  shall 
have  no  means  left  of  refuge  or  defence  ;  for  if  we  have  these  enemies  at 
home,  how  can  we  strive  with  those  that  are  abroad  ?  If  we  be  free  from 
these,  no  other  can  impeach  us.  Our  ancient  English  virtue  (like  the 
old  Spartan  valor)  cleared  from  these  disorders — our  being  in  sincerity  of 
religion  and  once  made  friends  with  Heaven  ;  having  maturity  of  councils, 
sufficiency  of  generals,  incorruption  of  officers,  opulency  in  the  King,  liberty 
in  the  people,  repletion  in  treasure,  plenty  of  provisions,  reparation  of 
ships,  preservation  of  men — our  ancient  English  virtue,  I  say,  thus  recti- 
fied, will  secure  us  ;  and  unless  there  be  a  speedy  reformation  in  these,  I 
know  not  what  hopes  or  expectations  we  can  have. 

These  are  the  things,  sir,  I  shall  desire  to  have  taken  into  considera- 
tion ;  that  as  we  are  the  great  council  of  the  kingdom,  and  have  the 
apprehension  of  these  dangers,  we  may  truly  represent  them  unto  the 
King,  which  I  conceive  we  are  bound  to  do  by  a  triple  obligation — of 
duty  to  God,  of  duty  to  his  Majesty,  and  of  duty  to  our  country. 

And  therefore  I  wish  it  may  so  stand  with  the  wisdom  and  judgment 
of  the  House  that  these  things  may  be  drawn  into  the  body  of  remon- 
strance, and  in  all  humility  expressed,  with  a  prayer  to  his  Majesty  that, 
for  the  safety  of  himself,  for  the  safety  of  the  kingdom,  and  for  the  safety 
of  religion,  he  will  be  pleased  to  give  us  time  to  make  perfect  inquisition 
thereof,  or  to  take  them  into  his  own  wisdom,  and  there  give  them  sue] 
timely  reformation  as  the  necessity  and  justice  of  the  case  doth  import. 

And  thus,  sir,  with  a  large  affection  and  loyalty  to  his  Majesty,  and 
with  a  firm  duty  and  service  to  my  country,  I  have  suddenly  (and  it  maj 
be  with  some  disorder)  expressed  the  weak  apprehensions  I  have  ;  whereii 
if  I  erred,  I  humbly  crave  your  pardon,  and  so  submit  myself  to  the  cei 
sure  of  the  House. 


JOHN  PYM  (J 584=  J 643) 

THE  ELOQUENT  CHAMPION  OF  RIGHT 


WHEN  Pym,  as  a  leader  in  the  Parliamentary  opposition,  went  with 
some  fellow-members  to  present-  a  petition  to  James  I.,  this 
"^  Scotch  King  of  England  cried  out  in  his  native  dialect, 
"  Chairs  !  chairs  !  here  be  twal  kyngs  comin."  And  as  King  Pym  he 
was  known  till  the  day  of  his  death.  In  the  Parliaments  of  Charles  I. 
Pym  was  one  of  the  most  active  of  the  members  in  opposition  to  the 
arbitrary  acts  of  the  king.  In  1628  he  ably  supported  Sir  John  Eliot 
in  the  debate  on  the  Petition  of  Right,  and  in  the  Short  Parliament  of 
1640  he  opened  the  session  in  a  short  and  sharp  summing  up  of  the 
unsupportable  state  of  affairs.  In  the  Long  Parliament  that  followed, 
Pym  was  the  leader  in  the  movement  which  led  to  the  impeachment 
and  execution  of  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  and  in  all  the  other  crises  of 
the  times  till  war  became  inevitable.  Before  it  began  he  died,  and 
w^as  buried  with  great  pomp  and  magnificence  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
AVhen  Charles  II.  came  to  the  throne  his  remains  were  taken  up  and 
cast  into  a  churchyard  pit — a  pitiful  piece  of  ineffective  vengeance. 

LAW  THE  BASIS  OF  LIBERTY 

[Pym,  the  leader  of  Parliament  in  the  revolution  against  the  Stuarts,  was  the 
support  and  successor  of  Kliot  in  this  movement,  and  much  the  ablest  orator  in  the 
Long  Parliament.  John  Hampden,  whose  name  is  almost  a  synonym  for  Knglish 
liberty,  was  no  orator,  but  was  an  earnest  seconder  of  Pym  in  the  proceedings  against 
Strafford,  who  had  acted  as  the  chief  agent  of  Charles  I.  in  his  arbitrary  acts,  and  paid 
■  for  this  on  the  scaffold.  We  give  the  opening  of  the  reply  to  Strafford  in  the  Parlia- 
Iment  of  1641.] 

Many  days  have  been  spent  in  maintenance  of  the  impeachment  Of 
the  Earl  of  Strafford  by  the  House  of  Commons,  whereby  he  stands 
charged  with  high  treason ;    and  your  lordships  have  heard  his  defence 

463 


464  JOHN  PYM 

with  patience,  and  with  as  much  favor  as  justice  will  allow.  We  have 
passed  through  our  evidence,  and  the  result  is  that  it  remains  clearly 
proved  that  the  Karl  of  Strafford  hath  endeavored,  by  his  words,  actions, 
and  counsels,  to  subvert  the  fundamental  laws  of  England  and  Ireland, 
and  to  introduce  an  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  government.  This  will  best 
appear  if  the  quality  of  the  offense  be  examined  by  that  law  to  which  he 
himself  appealed,  that  universal,  that  supreme  law, — salus  populi, — the 
welfare  of  the  people  !  This  is  the  element  of  all  laws,  out  of  which  they 
are  derived  ;  the  end  of  all  laws  to  which  they  are  designed,  and  in  which 
they  are  perfected.  The  offense  comprehends  all  other  offenses.  Here 
you  shall  find  several  treasons,  murders,  rapines,  oppressions,  perjuries. 
The  earth  hath  a  seminary  virtue,  whereby  it  doth  produce  all  herbs  and 
plants  and  other  vegetables  ;  there  is  in  this  crime  a  seminary  of  all  evils 
hurtful  to  the  State ;  and  if  you  consider  the  reason  of  it,  it  must  needs  be  so. 

The  law  is  that  which  puts  a  difference  betwixt  good  and  evil ; 
betwixt  just  and  unjust.  If  you  take  away  the  law,  all  things  will  fall 
into  a  confusion.  Every  man  will  become  a  law  to  himself,  which,  in  the 
depraved  condition  of  human  nature,  must  needs  produce  many  great 
enormities.  Lust  will  become  a  law,  and  envy  will  become  a  law  ;  covet- 
ousness  and  ambition  will  become  laws  ;  and  what  dictates,  what  deci- 
sions, such  laws  will  produce  may  easily  be  discerned  in  the  late  govern- 
ment of  Ireland  !  The  law  hath  a  power  to  prevent,  to  restrain,  to  repair 
evils ;  without  this,  all  kind  of  mischief  and  distempers  will  break  in 
upon  a  State. 

It  is  the  law  that  doth  entitle  the  King  to  the  allegiance  and  service 
of  his  people  ;  it  entitles  the  people  to  the  protection  and  justice  of  the 
King.  It  is  God  alone  who  subsists  by  Himself,  all  other  things  subsist 
in  a  mutual  dependence  and  relation.  He  was  a  wise  man  who  said  that 
the  King  subsisted  by  the  field  that  is  tilled  ;  it  is  the  labor  of  the  people 
that  supports  the  Crown  ;  if  you  takeaway  the  protection  of  the  King,  the 
vigor  and  cheerfulness  of  allegiance  will  be  taken  away,  though  the 
obligation  remains. 

The  law  is  the  boundary,  the  measure  between  the  King's  preroga- 
tive and  the  people's  liberty.  While  these  move  in  their  own  orbs,  they 
are  a  support  and  a  security  to  one  another — the  prerogative  a  cover  and 
defence  to  the  liberty  of  the  people,  and  the  people  by  their  liberty  are 
enabled  to  be  a  foundation  to  the  prerogative, — but  if  these  bounds  be  so 
removed  that  they  enter  into  contention  and  conflict,  one  of  these  mis- 
chiefs must  ensue : — if  the  prerogative  of  the  King  overwhelm  the 
liberty  of  the  people,  it  will  be  turned  into  tyranny  ;  if  liberty  undermine 
the  prerogative,  it  will  grow  into  anarchy. 


I 


I 


JOHN  PYM  _    _465 

The  doctrine  of  the  Papists,  Fides  no7i  est  servanda  cum  hereticis^,  is  an 
abominable  doctrine  ;  yet  that  other  tenet,  more  peculiar  to  the  Jesuits,  is 
more  pernicious,  whereby  subjects  are  discharged  from  their  oath  of 
allegiance  to  their  prince,  whensoever  the  Pope  pleaseth  ;  this  may  be 
added  to  make  the  third  no  less  mischievous  and  destructive  to  human 
society  than  either  of  the  rest.  That  the  King  is  not  bound  by  that  oath 
which  he  hath  taken  to  observe  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  ;  but  may,  when 
he  sees  cause,  lay  taxes  and  burdens  upon  them  without  their  consent, 
contrary  to  the  laws  and  liberties  of  the  kingdom — this  hath  been  preached 
and  published  by  divers  persons,  and  this  is  that  which  hath  been  prac- 
ticed in  Ireland  by  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  in  his  government  there,  and 
endeavored  to  be  brought  into  England  by  his  counsel  here.  .    .    .    . 

It  is  the  end  of  government  that  all  accidents  and  events,  all  counsels 
and  designs,  should  be  improved  to  the  public  good  ;  but  this  arbitrary 
power  is  apt  to  dispose  all  to  the  maintenance  of  itself.  The  wisdom  of 
the  council-table,  the  authority  of  the  courts  of  justice,  the  industry  of  all 
the  officers  of  the  Crown,  have  been  most  carefully  exercised  in  this  ;  the 
learning  of  our  divines,  the  jurisdiction  of  our  bishops  have  been  molded 
and  disposed  to  the  same  effect,  which  though  it  were  begun  before  the 
Earl  of  Strafford's  employment,  yet  it  hath  been  exceedingly  furthered 
I  and  advanced  by  him. 

Under  this  color  and  pretence  of  maintaining  the  King's  power  and 
\  prerogative,  many  dangerous  practices  against  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
I  kingdom  have  been  undertaken  and  promoted.     The  increase  of  popery 
I  and  the  favors  and  encouragement  of  papists  have  been,  and  still  are,  a 
great  grievance  and  danger  to  the  kingdom  ;  the  innovation,  in  matters  of 
religion,  the  usurpations  of  the  clergy,  the  manifold  burdens  and  taxa- 
tions upon  the  people,  have  been  a  great  cause  of  our  present  distempers 
and  disorders  ;  and  yet  those  who  have  been  chief  furtherers  and  actors  of 
such  mischiefs  have  had  their  credit  and  authority  from  this  that  they 
were  forward  to  maintain  this  power.     The  Earl  of  Strafford  had  the  first 
rise  of  his  greatness  from  this,  and  in  his  apology  and  defense,  as  your 
lordships  have  heard,  this  hath  had  a  main  part. 

The  royal  power  and  majesty  of  kings  is  most  glorious  in  the  pros- 
perity and  happiness  of  the  people  ;  the  perfection  of  all  things  consists  in 
the  end  for  which  they  were  ordained  ;  God  only  is  his  own  end  ;  all 
other  things  have  a  further  end  beyond  themselves,  in  attaining  whereof 
their  own  happiness  consists.  If  the  means  and  end  be  set  in  opposition 
to  one  another,  it  must  needs  cause  impotency  and  defect  of  both. 


I 


*  You  ought  not  to  keep  faith  with  heretics. 
30 


OLIVER  CROMWELL  (t 599- J  658) 

THE  LORD  PROTECTOR  OF  ENGLAND 


mHE  story  of  Cromwell's  life  is  too  well  known  to  need  any  record 
here,  where  we  have  to  do  with  him  in  the  one  aspect  of 
orator.  For  this  rdle  the  great  soldier  was  not  well  equipped 
by  nature.  He  was  much  better  adapted  to  face  an  army  in  the  field 
than  an  audience  from  the  rostrum.  Carlyle  says  that  his  speeches 
**  excel  human  belief  in  their  unlikeness  to  all  other  speeches,  in  their 
utter  disregard  of  all  standards  of  oratory  and  logical  sequence  of, 
thought.  .  .  .  But  the  time  was  when  they  had  as  much  weight  in] 
England  as  the  most  polished  orations  of  Demosthenes  in  Athens."] 
But  as  this  might  come  less  from  the  character  of  the  speeches  than 
from  the  position  of  the  speaker  we  must  suffice  ourselves  with  a  brief 
example  of  his  style. 

THE  KINGLY  TITLE 

[We  quote  from  Cromwell's  speech  in  1657  before  the  Committee  of  Ninety- 
nine,  fit  Whitehall.  It  is  characteristic  in  its  careful  avoidance  of  sentiments  thai 
would  commit  him  to  a  fixed  conclusion.  As  in  the  older  case  of  Csesar,  the  Puritai 
conqueror  was  offered  the  title  of  king.  Some  of  his  reasons  for  refusing  it  are  hen 
indicated.  He  declined  less  from  his  own  inclination,  than  from  the  hostility  to  th( 
name  of  king  -imong  the  Puritan  soldiery.]  1 

I  will  now  say  something  for  myself.  As  for  my  own  mind,  I  do  pro- 
fess it,  I  am  not  a  man  scrupulous  about  words,  or  names,  or  such  things. 
I  have  not  hitherto  clear  direction,  but  as  I  have  the  Word  of  God,  and  I 
hope  I  shall  ever  have,  for  the  rule  of  my  conscience,  for  my  information 
and  direction,  so  truly,  if  men  have  been  led  into  dark  paths  through  the 
providence  and  dispensations  of  God — why  surely  it  is  not  to  be  objected 
to  a  man.  For  who  can  love  to  walk  in  the  dark  ?  But  Providence  doth 
often  so  dispose,  and  though  a  man  maj''  impute  his  own  folly  and  blind- 
ness to  Providence  sinfully,  yet  this  must  be  at  a  man's  own  peril.  The 
466 

m 


OLIVER  CROMWELL  ~467 

case  may  be  that  it  is  the  providence  of  God  that  doth  lead  men  in  dark- 
ness. I  must  needs  say  I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  experience  of  provi- 
dence ;  and  though  such  experience  is  no  rule  without  or  against  the 
Word,  yet  it  is  a  very  good  expounder  of  the  Word  in  many  cases. 

Truly  the  providence  of  God  has  laid  aside  this  title  of  king  provi- 
dentially de  facto  ;  and  that  not  by  sudden  humor  or  passion  ;  but  it  hath 
been  by  issue  of  as  great  deliberation  as  ever  was  in  a  nation.  It  hath 
been  by  issue  of  ten  or  twelve  years'  civil  war,  wherein  much  blood  hath 
been  shed.  I  will  not  dispute  the  justice  of  it  when  it  was  done,  nor  need 
I  tell  you  what  my  opinion  was  in  the  case  were  it  de  novo  to  be  done. 
But  if  it  is  at  all  disputable,  and  a  man  come  and  find  that  God  in  His 
severity  hath  not  only  eradicated  a  whole  family,  and  thrust  them  out  of 
the  land,  for  reasons  best  known  to  Himself,  but  also  hath  made  the  issue 

and  close  of  that  to  be  the  very  eradication  of  a  name  and   title 1 

Which  de  facto  is  the  case. 

It  was  not  done  by  me,  nor  by  them  that  tendered  me  the  govern- 
ment I  now  act  in  ;  it  was  done  by  the  Long  Parliament, — that  was  it. 
And  God  hath  seemed  providential,  not  only  in  striking  at  the  family,  but 
at  the  name.  And,  as  I  said  before,  it  is  blotted  out ;  it  is  a  thing  cast  out 
by  an  Act  of  Parliament ;  it  hath  been  kept  out  to  this  day.  And  as  Jude 
jsaith  in  another  case,  speaking  of  abominable  sins  that  should  be  in  the 
latter  times, — he  doth  further  say,  when  he  comes  to  exhort  the  saints,  he 
tells  them  they  should  '*  hate  even  the  garments  spotted  with  the  flesh." 

I  beseech  you  think  not  I  bring  this  as  an  argument  to  prove  any- 
thing. God  hath  seemed  so  to  deal  with  the  person  and  the  family  that 
He  blasted  the  very  title.  And  you  know  when  a  man  comes,  a  parte 
tost,  to  reflect,  and  see  this  done,  this  title  laid  in  the  dust, — I  confess  I 
2an  come  to  no  other  conclusion.  The  like  of  this  may  make  a  strong 
impression  upon  such  weak  men  as  I  am ; — and  perhaps  upon  weaker 
men,  if  there  be  any  such,  it  will  make  a  stronger.  I  will  not  seek  to  set 
ip  that  which  Providence  hath  destroyed  and  laid  in  the  dust ;    I  would 

lot  build  Jericho  again 

I  have  now  no  more  to  say.  The  truth  is,  I  did  indicate  this  to  you 
IS  my  conclusion  at  the  first,  when  I  told  you  what  method  I  would  speak 
o  you  in.  I  may  say  I  cannot,  with  conveniency  to  myself,  nor  good  to 
his  service  which  I  wish  so  well  to,  speak  out  all  my  arguments  as  to  the 
jafety  of  your  proposal,  as  to  its  tendency  to  the  effectual  carrying  out  of 
his  work.  I  say  I  do  not  think  it  fit  to  use  all  the  thoughts  I  have  in  my 
aind  as  to  that  point  of  safety.  But  I  shall  pray  to  God  Almighty  that 
ie  will  direct  you  to  do  what  is  according  to  His  will.  And  this  is  the 
>oor  account  I  am  able  to  give  of  myself  in  this  thing. 


EARL  OF  CHESTERFIELD  (t 694-1 773) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  WIT  AND  SARCASM 


I  A  I  FAMOUS  man  was  Philip  Dormer  Stanhope,  Earl  of  Chester- 
\t\\     field,  in  his  time  and  season,  posing  at  once  as  wit,  orator,  and 
author,  and  for  a  long  time  serving  as  an  active   member  of 
Parliament  and  Cabinet  official.     He  sat  in  the  House  of  Commons 
from  1716  to  1726,  when  he  was  given  his  title  and  promoted  to  the 
House  of  Lords.     He  entered  the  Pelham  Cabinet  in  1744,  and  retired 
from  public  life  in  1748.     Two  things  have  helped  to  keep  alive  th( 
memory  of  Chesterfield.     One  was  Dr.  Johnson's  famous  letter,  ii 
which  he  hotly  scorched  the  politic  Earl  for  withholding  his  patronag^ 
until  after  the  publication  of  his  great  dictionary,  and  then  offering 
it  when  it  was  no  longer  needed.     The  other  was  his  well-known 
"  Letters  to  his  Son,"  which  have  gained  a  permanent  place  in  English 
literature.     They  contain  a  good  deal  of  shrewd  and  solid  observe 
tion,  but  many  of  their  teachings  are  those  of  a  man  of  fashion 
that  age,  and  are  by  no  means  in  accord  with  the  code  of  social  moral 
now  prevailing.     As  an  orator  Chesterfield  had  marked  ability, 
and  sarcasm  adding  their  force  to  the  more  solid  characteristics 
his  method  of  speech.     Until   173.0  he  was  a  Whig  in  politics  an^ 
supported  Walpole,  but,  ousted  from  office  in  the  king's  household  by 
that  minister,  he  joined  the  opposition  and  became  one  of  his  bitterest 
antagonists. 

THE  DRINKING  FUND 

[Of  Chesterfield's  oratory  the  most  effective  existing  example  is  his  speech 
made  in  the  House  of  Lords,  February  21,  1743,  on  the  Gin  Act ;  a  measure  propos- 
ing to  increase  the  revenue  by  licensing  the  sale  of  gin.  In  this  powerful  speech  he 
antedated  by  a  century  the  Prohibition  movement,  using  the  same  arguments  against 
the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  as  were  employed  by  the  nineteenth  century  advocates,  and 
with  equal  effectiveness.     We  append  a  characteristic  selection  from  this  address.] 

468  _ 


EARL  OF   CHESTERFIELD  469 

Luxury,  my  lords,  is  to  be  taxed,  but  vice  prohibited,  let  the  diffi- 
culties in  executing  the  law  be  what  they  will.  Would  you  lay  a  tax  on 
the  breach  of  the  Ten  Commandments  ?  Would  not  such  a  tax  be  wicked 
and  scandalous  ;  because  it  would  imply  an  indulgence  to  all  those  who 
could  pay  the  tax  ?  Is  not  this  a  reproach  most  justly  thrown  by  the 
Protestants  upon  the  Church  of  Rome  ?  Was  it  not  the  chief  cause  of  the 
Reformation  ?  And  will  you  follow  a  precedent  which  brought  reproach 
and  ruin  upon  those  that  introduced  it  ?  This  is  the  very  case  now  before 
you.  You  are  going  to  lay  a  tax,  and  consequently  to  indulge  a  sort  of 
drunkenness,  which  almost  necessarily  produces  a  breach  of  every  one 
of  the  Ten  Commandments.  Can  you  expect  the  reverend  bench  will 
approve  of  this.  I  am  convinced  they  will  not ;  and  therefore  I  wish  I 
had  seen  it  full  upon  this  occasion. 

We  have  already,  my  lords,  several  sorts  of  funds  in  this  nation,  so 
many  that  a  man  must  have  a  good  deal  of  learning  to  be  master  of  them. 
Thanks  to  his  Majesty,  we  have  now  among  us  the  most  learned  man  of 
the  nation  in  this  way.  I  wish  he  would  rise  up  and  tell  us  what  name 
we  are  to  give  this  new  fund.  We  have  already  the  Civil  List  Fund,  the 
Sinking  Fund,  the  Aggregate  Fund,  the  South  Sea  Fund,  and  God  knows 
how  many  others.  What  name  we  are  to  give  this  new  fund  I  know  not, 
unless  we  are  to  call  it  the  Drinking  Fund.  It  may,  perhaps,  enable  the 
people  of  a  certain  foreign  territory  [Hanover]  to  drink  claret,  but  it  will 
disable  the  people  of  this  kingdom  from  drinking  anything  efse  but  gin  ; 
for  when  a  man  has,  by  gin  drinking,  rendered  himself  unfit  for  labor  or 
business,  he  can  purchase  nothing  else  ;  and  then  the  best  thing  for  him 
to  do  is  to  drink  on  till  he  dies. 

Surely,  my  lords,  men  of  such  unbounded  benevolence  as  our  present 
ministers  deserve  such  honors  as  were  never  paid  before  ;  they  deserve  to 
bestride  a  butt  upon  every  signpost  in  the  city,  or  to  have  their  figures 
exhibited  as  tokens  where  this  liquor  is  to  be  sold  by  the  license  which 
they  have  procured.  They  must  be  at  least  remembered  to  future  ages  as 
the  "  happy  politicians  "  who,  after  all  expedients  for  raising  taxes  had 
been  employed,  discovered  a  new  method  of  draining  the  last  relics  of  the 
public  wealth,  and  added  a  new  revenue  to  the  Government.  Nor  will 
those  who  shall  hereafter  enumerate  the  several  funds  now  established 
among  us,  forget,  among  the  benefactors  of  their  country,  the  illustrious 

authors  of  the  Drinking  Fund 

The  noble  lord  has  been  pleased  kindly  to  inform  us  that  the  trade  of 
distilling  is  very  extensive  ;  that  it  employs  great  numbers  ;  and  that  they 
have  arrived  at  an  exquisite  skill,  and  therefore — note  well  the  consie- 
quence—- the  trade  of  distilling  is  not  to  be  discouraged. 


470  EARL  OF  CHESTERFIELD 

Once  more,  my  lords,  allow  me  to  wonder  at  the  different  conceptions 
of  different  understandings.  It  appears  to  me  that  since  the  spirits  which 
the  distillers  produce  are  allowed  to  enfeeble  the  limbs  and  vitals  of  the 
blood,  to  pervert  the  heart  and  obscure  the  intellect,  that  the  number  of 
distillers  should  be  no  argument  in  their  favor  ;  for  I  never  heard  that  a 
law  against  theft  was  repealed  or  delayed  because  thieves  were  numerous. 
It  appears  to  me,  my  lords,  that  if  so  formidable  a  body  are  confederated 
against  the  virtue  or  the  lives  of  their  fellow-citizens,  it  is  time  to  put  an 
end  to  the  havoc,  and  to  interpose  while  it  is  yet  in  our  power  to  stop 
the  destruction. 

So  little,  my  lords,  am  I  afflicted  with  the  merit  of  this  wonderful 
skill  which  the  distillers  are  said  to  have  attained,  that  it  is,  in  my  opin- 
ion, no  faculty  of  great  use  to  mankind  to  prepare  palatable  poison  ;  nor 
shall  I  ever  contribute  my  interest  for  the  reprieve  of  a  murderer,  because 
he  has,  by  long  practice,  obtained  great  dexterity  in  his  trade. 

If  their  liquors  are  so  delicious  that  the  people  are  tempted  to  their 
own  destruction,  let  us  at  length,  my  lords,  secure  them  from  these  fatal 
draughts  by  bursting  the  vials  that  contain  them.  I,et  us  crush  at  once 
these  artists  in  slaughter,  who  have  reconciled  their  countrymen  to  sick- 
ness and  to  ruin ,  and  spread  over  the  pitfalls  of  debauchery  such  baits  as 
cannot  be  resisted. 

This  bill,  therefore,  appears  to  be  designed  only  to  thin  the  ranks  of 
mankind,  and  to  disburden  the  world  of  the  multitudes  that  inhabit  it  ; 
and  is  perhaps  the  strongest  proof  of  political  sagacity  that  our  new  min- 
isters have  yet  exhibited.  They  well  know,  my  lords,  that  they  are  uni- 
versally detested,  and  that,  whenever  a  Briton  is  destroyed,  they  are  freed 
from  an  enemy ;  they  have  therefore  opened  the  flood  gates  of  gin  upon 
the  nation,  that,  when  it  is  less  numerous,  it  may  be  more  easily  governed. 

Other  ministers,  my  lords,  who  had  not  attained  to  so  great  a  knowl- 
edge in  the  art  of  making  war  upon  their  country,  when  they  found  their 
enemies  clamorous  and  bold,  used  to  awe  them  with  prosecutions  and  pen- 
alties, or  destroy  them  like  burglars,  with  prisons  and  with  gibbets.  But 
every  age,  my  lords,  produces  some  improvement ;  and  every  nation,  how- 
ever degenerate,  gives  birth,  at  some  happy  period  of  time,  to  men  of 
great  and  enterprising  genius.  It  is  our  fortune  to  be  witnesses  of  a  new 
discovery  in  politics.  We  may  congratulate  ourselves  upon  being  con- 
temporaries with  those  men  who  have  shown  that  hangmen  and  halters 
are  unnecessary  in  a  State,  and  that  ministers  may  escape  the  reproach  of 
destroying  their  enemies  by  inciting  them  to  destroy  themselves. 


BOOK  IV^ 

The  Golden  Age  of  British  Oratory 

THE  oratory  of  Great  Britain  reached  its  cul- 
minating period  in  the  latter  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  in  the  eloquent  and  in- 
spired utterances  of  such  masters  of  the  art  as 
Chatham,  Burke,  Fox,  Sheridan,  Pitt,  Grattan,  Cur- 
ran,  and  others  well  known  to  fame.  The  incite- 
ment to  earnest  and  vigorous  oratory  then  existed  in 
large  measure,  and  the  response  was  not  wanting. 
The  first  great  inciting  cause  was  the  effort  to  coerce 
the  colonists  in  America,  and  the  war  for  indepen- 
dence that  followed.  During  this  period  the  British 
Parliament  thundered  with  vehement  harangues,  it 
being  a  somewhat  remarkable  fact  that  the  greatest 
orators  of  that  era — Chatham,  Burke,  Fox,  and 
Wilkes — were  all  strongly  on  the  side  of  the  colon- 
ists, assailing  the  administration  in  language  whose 
fearlessness  testifies  to  the  freedom  of  speech  then 
existing  in  England.  There  were  important  oppor- 
tunities also  for  forensic  oratory,  especially  the  famous 
Warren  Hastings  trial,  which  led  to  some  of  the 
most  splendid  examples  of  the  oratory  of  invective 
and  accusation  on  record,  especially  those  of  Burke 
and  Sheridan,  which  rank  highly  among  oratorical 
triumphs.  In  the  final  decade  of  the  century  came 
another  great  occasion  for  parliamentary  debate,  in 
the  French  Revolution  and  the  opening  of  the  Napo- 
leonic wars.  In  all,  the  period  was  one  full  of  food 
for  oratory,  and  there  arose  in  the  British  kingdom  a 
greater  number  of  orators  of  superior  powers  than 
in  any  other  period  of  its  history, 

471 


THE  EARL  OF  CHATHAM  (J 708-1 778) 

THE  GREAT  COMMONER 


SIR  ROBERT  WALPOLE,  for  twenty  years  Prime  Minister  of 
England,  was  fairly  terrified  when  he  first  heard  the  voice  of 

'  young  William  Pitt  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  exclaimed, 
"  We  must  muzzle  that  terrible  cornet  of  horse  !  "  He  tried  to  do  so 
in  1741,  iiji  a  sarcastic  speech,  in  which  he  referred  to  Pitt's  fluency  of 
rhetoric  and  vehemence  of  gesture,  ^'  pompous  diction  and  theatrical 
emotions/'  He  went  on  to  say  that  "  Excursions  of  fancy  and  flights 
of  oratory  are  pardonable  in  young  men,  but  in  no  others."  Pitt's 
reply — beginning,  *'  The  atrocious  crime  of  being  a  young  man,  which 
the  honorable  gentleman  has,  with  such  spirit  and  decency,  charged 
upon  me,  I  shall  neither  attempt  to  palliate  nor  deny  " — effectually 
settled  the  old  Conservative,  and  showed  the  members  of  Parliament 
that  they  had  a  new  force  to  deal  with.  In  the  years  that  followed 
Pitt  took  rank  as  one  of  the  greatest  orators  of  modern  times.  About 
1760  he  was  idolized  by  the  populace,  who  called  him  "The  Great 
Commoner,"  but  six  years  afterward  he  sacrificed  his  popularity  by 
accepting  a  peerage,  with  the  title  of  Earl  of  Chatham.  He  was  now 
growing  old,  and  was  affected  both  physically  and  mentally,  but 
recovered  sufficiently  to  raise  his  voice  in  earnest  protest  against  the 
acts  of  the  King  and  his  ministers  before  and  during  the  American 
Revolution.  His  eloquent  appeals  in  behalf  of  fhe  colonists  have 
endeared  him  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  as  their  most  ardent 
friend  in  their  days  of  mortal  need. 

As  an  orator,  the  name  of  Chatham  ranks  among  the  few  supreme 

in  this  noble  art.     We  possess  but  fragments  of  his  speeches,  but  these 

serve  to  indicate  the  character  of  the  eloquence  to  which  he  owed  his 

great  fame.     But  with  him  words  w-ere  not  all ;  manner  told  as  well. 

472 


i 


THE  EARL  OF  CHATHAM  473 

Hazlitt  says,  "  The  principle  by  which  the  Earl  of  Chatham  exerted 
his  influence  over  others  was  sympathy.  He  himself  evidently  had 
a  strong  possession  of  his  subject,  a  thorough  conviction,  an  intense 
interest ;  and  this  communicated  itself  from  his  manner,  from  the  tones 
of  his  voice,  from  his  commanding  attitudes,,  and  eager  gestures, 
instinctively  and  unavoidably,  to  his  hearers." 

REMOVE  THE  BOSTON  GARRISON 

[No  stronger  words  could  have  been  spoken  in  defense  of  the  American  colonists 
on  their  own  shores  than  those  which  the  aged  Chatham  uttered  in  the  British  House 
of  Lords.  In  1774  he  denounced  the  measure  for  quartering  troops  on  the  people  of 
Boston,  and  in  January,  1775,  made  the  notable  speech  from  which  we  quote.] 

When  your  lordships  look  at  the  papers  transmitted  to  us  from  Amer- 
ica, when  you  consider  their  firmness,  decency,  and  wisdom,  you  cannot 
but  respect  their  cause  and  wish  to  make  it  your  own.  For  myself,  I 
I  must  affirm,  declare,  and  avow  that,  in  all  my  reading  and  observation 
(and  it  has  been  my  favorite  study,  for  I  have  read  Thucydides,  and  have 
studied  and  admired  the  master  states  of  the  world),  I  say,  I  must  declare 
that,  for  solidity  of  reasoning,  force  of  sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclu- 
sion, under  such  a  complication  of  difficult  circumstances,  no  nation  or 
body  of  men  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  General  Congress  at  Philadel- 
phia. I  trust  it  is  obvious  to  your  lordships  that  all  attempts  to  impose 
servitude  upon  such  men,  to  establish  despotism  over  such  a  mighty  conti- 
nental nation,  must  be  vain,  must  be  fatal. 

We  shall  be  forced,  ultimately,  to  retract.     Let  us  retract  while  we 

can,  not  when  we  must.     I  say  we  must  necessarily  undo  these  violent, 

oppressive   acts.      They  must  be  repealed.     You  will  repeal  them.      I 

pledge  myself  for  it  that  you  will,  in  the  end,  repeal  them.     I  stake  my 

reputation  on  it.     I  will  consent  to  be  taken  for  an  idiot  if  they  are  not 

finally  repealed. 

[Speaking  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  Boston,  and  the  preparations  for  resistance, 
he  said :] 

Had  the  early  situation  of  the  people  of  Boston  been  attended  to, 
things  would  not  have  come  to  this.  But  the  infant  complaints  of  Boston 
Iwere  literally  treated  like  the  capricious  squalls  of  a  child,  who,  it  was 
said,  did  not  know  whether  it  was  aggrieved  or  not. 

But  full  well  I  knew,  at  that  time,  that  this  child,  if  not  redressed, 
would  soon  assume  the  courage  and  voice  of  a  man.  Full  well  I  knew 
that  the  sons  of  ancestors,  born  under  the  same  free  constitution  and  once 
breathing  the  same  liberal  air  as  Englishmen,  would  resist  upon  the  same 
principles  and  on  the  same  occasions. 


474  THE  EARL  OF  CHATHAM 

What  has  Government  done  ?  They  have  sent  an  armed  force,  con- 
sisting of  seventeen  thousand  men,  to  dragoon  the  Bostonians  into  what 
is  called  their  duty ;  and,  so  far  from  once  turning  their  eyes  to  the  policy 
and  destructive  consequence  of  this  scheme,  are  constantly  sending  out 
more  troops.  And  we  are  told,  in  the  language  of  menace,  that  if  seven- 
teen thousand  men  won't  do,  fifty  thousand  shall. 

It  is  true,  my  lords,  with  this  force  they  may  ravage  the  country,  waste 
and  destroy  as  they  march  ;  but,  in  the  progress  of  fifteen  hundred  miles, 
can  they  occupy  the  places  they  have  passed  ?  Will  not  a  country  which 
can  produce  three  millions  of  people,  wronged  and  insulted  as  they  are, 
start  up  like  hydras  in  every  corner,  and  gather  fresh  strength  from  fresh 
opposition  ? 

Nay,  what  dependence  can  you  have  upon  the  soldiery,  the  unhappy 
engines  of  your  wrath?  They  are  Englishmen,  who  must  feel  for  the 
privileges  of  Englishmen.  Do  you  think  that  these  men  can  turn  their 
arms  against  their  brethren  ?  Surely  no.  A  victory  must  be  to  them  a 
defeat,  and  carnage  a  sacrifice. 

But  it  is  not  merely  three  millions  of  people,  the  produce  of  America, 
we  have  to  contend  with  in  this  unnatural  struggle  ;  many  more  are  on 
their  side,  dispersed  over  the  face  of  this  wide  empire.  Every  Whig  in 
this  country  and  in  Ireland  is  with  them. 

In  this  alarming  crisis  I  come  with  this  paper  in  my  hand  to  offer  you 
the  best  of  my  experience  and  advice  ;  which  is,  that  a  humble  petition 
be  presented  to  his  Majesty,  beseeching  him  that,  in  order  to  open  the 
way  towards  a  happy  settlement  of  the  dangerous  troubles  in  America,  it 
may  graciously  please  him  that  immediate  orders  be  given  to  General  Gage 
for  removing  his  Majesty's  forces  from  the  town  of  Boston. 

Such  conduct  will  convince  America  that  you  mean  to  try  her  cause 
in  the  spirit  of  freedom  and  inquiry,  and  not  in  letters  of  blood. 

There  is  no  time  to  be  lost.  Every  hour  is  big  with  danger.  Per- 
haps, while  I  am  now  speaking  the  decisive  blow  is  struck  which  may 
involve  millions  in  the  consequence.  And,  believe  me,  the  very  first 
drop  of  blood  which  is  shed  will  cause  a  wound  which  may  never  be 
healed.  j 

THE  WAR  IN  AMERICA  l 

[On  November  i8,  1777,  Chatham,  a  few  months  only  before  his  death,  made  a 
notable  speech  on  the  same  subject.  He  spoke  with  impassioned  eloquence  against 
the  employment  of  Indians  in  the  war  with  the  colonists,  alluded  to  the  probability 
of  an  alliance  between  the  United  States  and  France,  and  continued  as  follows.] 

The  people  whom  they  (the  ministers)  affect  to  call  rebels,  but  whose 
growing  power  has  at  last  obtained  the  name  of  enemies  :  the  people  with 


I 


THE  EARL  OF  CHATHAM  475 

whom  they  have  engaged  this  country  in  war,  and  against  whom  they 
now  command  our  implicit  support  in  every  measure  of  desperate  hos- 
tility ;  this  people — despised  as  rebels — are  acknowledged  as  enemies,  are 
abetted  against  you,  supplied  with  every  military  store,  their  interests 
consulted,  and  their  ambassadors  entertained  by  your  inveterate  enemy. 
And  our  ministers  dare  not  interpose  with  dignity  and  effect.  Is  this  the 
honor  of  a  great  kingdom  ?  Is  this  the  indignant  spirit  of  England,  who 
but  yesterday  gave  law  to  the  House  of  Bourbon  ?  The  dignity  of  nations 
demands  a  decisive  conduct  in  a  situation  like  this. 

The  desperate  state  of  our  arms  abroad  is  in  part  known.  I  love  and 
I  honor  the  English  troops.  No  man  thinks  more  highly  of  them  than  I 
do.  I  know  they  can  achieve  anything  except  impossibilities  ;  and  I 
know  that  the  conquest  of  English  America  is  an  impossibility.  You  can- 
not, I  venture  to  say,  you  cannot  conquer  America. 

Your  armies  in  the  last  war  effected  everything  that  could  be  effected, 
and  what  was  it?  It  cost  a  numerous  army,  under  the  command  of  a 
most  noted  general,  now  a  noble  lord  in  this  House,  a  long  and  laborious 
campaign,  to  expel  five  thousand  Frenchmen  from  French  America.  My 
lords,  you  cannot  conquer  America  !  What  is  your  present  situation 
there  ?  We  do  not  know  the  worst,  but  we  know  that  in  the  three  cam- 
paigns we  have  done  nothing  and  suffered  much.  We  shall  soon  know, 
and  in  any  event  have  reason  to  lament,  what  may  have  happened  since. 

As  to  conquest,  my  lords,  I  repeat, — it  is  impossible !  You  may 
swell  every  expense  and  every  effort  still  more  extravagantly  ;  pile  and 
accumulate  everv  assistance  you  can  buy  or  borrow ;  traffic  and  barter 
with  every  little,  pitiful  German  prince  who  will  sell  his  subjects  to  the 
shambles  of  a  foreign  power  !  Your  efforts  are  forever  vain  and  impotent; 
doubly  so  from  this  mercenary  aid  on  which  you  rely.  For  it  irritates,  to 
an  incurable  resentment,  the  minds  of  your  enemies,  to  overrun  them  with 
the  mercenary  sons  of  rapine  and  plunder,  devoting  them  and  their  pos- 
sessions to  the  rapacity  of  hireling  cruelty.  If  I  were  an  American,  as  I 
am  an  Englishman,  while  a  foreign  troop  remained  in  my  country  I  never 
would  lay  down  my  arms ;  never ^  never ^  never  I  • 


EDMUND  BURKE  (J 730-1 797) 

THE  SHAKESPEARE  OF  ENGLISH  ORATORS 


i 


|S  the  United  States  possessed,  in  the  days  of  the  great  slavery 
and  revenue  agitation,  three  orators  of  the  finest  powers, 
Webster,  Clay  and  Calhoun,  so  England  was  graced,  in  the 
exciting  days  of  the  American  War,  with  three  orators  of  similar  bril- 
liancy,— Chatham,  Burke  and  Fox.  Greatest  among  these,  in  certain 
of  the  most  important  elements  of  oratory,  was  Burke.  He  had  not 
the  impetuous  and  splendid  eloquence  of  Chatham,  nor  the  remarka- 
ble skill  in  debate  of  Fox,  but  in  learning,  in  the  power  of  clothing 
great  thoughts  in  the  most  appropriate  words,  and  of  producing 
speeches  which  are  even  more  interesting  and  effective  when  read 
than  they  were  when  delivered,  he  far  surpassed  them  both.  Macau- 
lay  speaks  of  him  as,  **  In  aptitude  of  comprehension  and  richness  of 
imagination,  superior  to  every  orator,  ancient  or  mocfern." 

Edmund  Burke,  while  of  Norman  descent,  was  of  Irish  birth,  his 
native  place  being  the  city  of  Dublin.  Entering  Parliament  in  1766, 
he  at  once  took  an  active  part  in  the  discussion  on  American  affairs, 
and  continued  it  throughout  the  subsequent  war,  joining  Chatham  in 
his  eloquent  support  of  the  cause  of  the  colonists.  He  was  especially 
distinguished  for  his  thorough  mastery  of  American  affairs  and  his 
intelligent  foresight  of  the  probable  result  of  the  attempt  to  force 
taxation  on  the  colonists. 

Perhaps  the  most  brilliant  part  of  his  career  was  that  devoted  to 
affairs  in  India,  the  oppression  and  cruelty  of  Warren  Hastings  and 
other  East  India  officials  having  filled  his  soul  with  the  deepest  indig- 
nation. The  prosecution  of  Warren  Hastings,  the  most  remarkable 
of  English  trials,  was  due  to  his  denunciations,  and  his  utmost 
powders  of  intellect  were  exerted  in  the  effort  to  bring  retribution  upon 
476 


ii 


EDMUND  BURKE  -  477 

the  culprit,  during  the  nearly  ten  years  over  which  the  case  extended. 
Burke's  final  work  as  an  orator  w^as  his  fervid  opposition  to  the  Revo- 
lution in  France,  whose  results  he  foresaw  with  what  has  been  called 
"  the  most  magnificent  political  prophecy  ever  given  to  the  world." 
He  lived  long  enough  to  see  his  prophecy  fulfilled. 

w 

THE  IMPEACHMENT  OF  WARREN  HASTINGS 
[Rarely  has  any  orator  had  a  greater  effect  upon  an  audience  than  that  of  Burke 
in  the  speech  in  which  he  depicted  the  cruelties  inflicted  upon  the  victims  of  the 
irresponsible  Governor  General  of  India.  Hastings  himself  afterward  said  of  it : 
"For  half  an  hour  I  looked  upon  the  orator  in  a  reverie  of  wonder,  and  actually 
thought  myself  the  most  culpable  man  in  the  world."  This  speech  is  far  too  long  for 
our  space,  and  we  confine  our  selection  to  Burke's  vigorous  impeachment  of  the 
great  culprit.] 

In  the  name  of  the  Commons  of  England,  I  charge  all  this  villainy 
upon  Warren  Hastings,  in  this  last  moment  of  my  application  to  you. 

My  Lords,  what  is  it  that  we  want  here  to  a  great  act  of  national  jus- 
tice ?  Do  we  want  a  cause,  my  Lords  ?  You  have  the  cause  of  oppressed 
princes,  of  undone  women  of  the  first  rank,  of  desolated  provinces,  and  of 
wasted  kingdoms. 

Do  you  want  a  criminal,  my  Lords?  When  was  there  so  much 
iniquity  ever  laid  to  the  charge  of  any  one  ?  No,  my  Lords,  you  must 
not  look  to  punish  any  other  such  delinquent  from  India.  Warren  Hast- 
ings has  not  left  substance  enough  in  India  to  nourish  such  another  delin- 
quent. 

My  Lords,  is  it  a  prosecutor  you  want?  You  have  before  you  the 
Commons  of  Great  Britain  as  prosecutors,  and  I  believe,  my  Lords,  that 
the  sun,  in  his  beneficent  progress  round  the  world,  does  not  behold  a 
more  glorious  sight  than  that  of  men,  separated  from  a  remote  people  by 
the  material  bonds  and  barriers  of  nature,  united  by  the  bond  of  a  social  and 
moral  community — all  the  Commons  of  England  resenting,  as  their  own, 
the  indignities  and  the  cruelties  that  are  offered  to  the  people  of  India. 

Do  we  want  a  tribunal  ?  My  Lords,  no  example  of  antiquity,  nothing 
in  the  modern  world,  nothing  in  the  range  of  human  indignation,  can 
supply  us  with  a  tribunal  like  this.  My  Lords,  here  we  see  virtually,  in 
the  mind's  eye,  that  sacred  majesty  of  the  Crown,  under  whose  authority 
you  sit  and  whose  power  you  exercise. 

We  have  here  all  the  branches  of  the  royal  family,  in  a  situation 

between  majesty  and  subjection,  between  the  sovereign  and  the  subject— 

I  offering  a  pledge,  in  that  situation,  for  the  support  of  the  rights  of  the 

I  Crown  and  the  liberties  of  the  people,  both  of  which  extremities  they 

■  touch. 


478  *  EDMUND  BURKE 

My  lyords,  we  have  a  great  hereditary  peerage  here  ;  those  who  have 
their  own  honor,  the  honor  of  their  ancestors,  and  of  their  posterity,  to 
guard,  and  who  will  justify,  as  they  always  have  justified,  that  provision 
in  the  Constitution  by  which  justice  is  made  an  hereditary  office. 

My  Lords,  we  have  here  a  new  nobility,  who  have  risen,  and  exalted 
themselves  by  various  merits,  by  great  civil  and  military  services, 
-which  have  extended  the  fame  of  this  country  from  the  rising  to  the 
setting  sun. 

My  Lords,  you  have  here,  also,  the  lights  of  our  religion  ;  you  have 
the  bishops  of  England.  My  Lords,  you  have  that  true  image  of  the 
primitive  Church  in  its  ancient  form,  in  its  ancient  ordinances,  purified 
from  the  superstitions  and  the  vices  which  a  long  succession  of  ages  will 
bring  upon  the  best  institutions. 

My  Lords,  these  are  the  securities  which  we  have  in  all  the  constitu- 
ent parts  of  the  body  of  this  House.  We  know  them,  we  reckon,  we  rest 
upon  them,  and  commit  safely  the  interests  of  India  and  of  humanity  into 
your  hands.  Therefore,  it  is  with  confidence,  that,  ordered  by  the  Com- 
mons, 

I  impeach  Warren  Hastings,  Esquire,  of  high  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors. 

I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain,  in  Par- 
liament assembled,  whose  parliamentary  trust  he  has  betrayed. 

I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  all  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain, 
whose  national  character  he  has  dishonored. 

I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  India,  whose  laws,  rights, 
and  liberties  he  has  subverted,  whose  property  he  has  destroyed,  whose 
country  he  has  laid  waste  and  desolate. 

I  impeach  him  in  the  name,  and  by  virtue  of  those  eternal  laws  of 
justice  which  he  has  violated. 

I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  human  nature  itself,  which  he  hi 
cruelly  outraged,  injured  and  oppressed,  in  both  sexes,  in  every  age,  rani 
situation,  and  condition  of  life. 

My  Lords,  at  this  awful  close,  in  the  name  of  the  Commons,  an( 
surrounded  by  them,  I  attest  the  retiring.  I  attest  the  advancing,  genera^ 
tions,  between  which,  as  a  link  in  the  great  chain  of  eternal  order,  w^ 
stand.  We  call  this  nation,  and  call  this  world,  to  witness,  that  the  Comj 
mons  have  shrunk  from  no  labor  ;  that  we  have  been  guilty  of  no  prevarij 
cation,  that  we  have  made  no  compromise  with  crime,  that  we  have  n( 
feared  any  odium  whatsoever  in  the  long  warfare  which  we  have  carri( 
on  with  the  crimes,  with  the  vices,  with  the  exorbitant  wealth,  with  tl 
enormous  and  overpowering  influence  of  Eastern  corruption. 


EDMUND  BURKeV  -O^^^:^  -  479 

My  Lords,  it  has  pleased  Providence  to  place  us  in  such  a  state  that  we 
appear  every  to  be  moment  upon  the  verge  of  some  great  mutations.  There 
is  one  thing,  and  one  thing  only,  which  defies  all  mutation  ;  that  which 
existed  before  the  world,  and  will  survive  the  fabric  of  the  world  itself, — 
I  mean  justice;  that  justice  which,  emanating  from  the  Divinity,  has  a 
place  in  the  breast  of  every  one  of  us,  given  us  for  our  guide  with  regard 
to  ourselves  and  with  regard  to  others  ;  and  which  will  stand,  after  this 
globe  is  burned  to  ashes,  our  advocate  or  our  accuser,  before  the  great 
Judge,  when  He  comes  to  call  upon  us  for  the  tenor  of  a  well-spent  life. 

My  Lords,  the  Commons  will  share  in  every  fate  with  your  Lordships; 
there  is  nothing  sinister  which  can  happen  to  you,  in  which  we  shall  not 
be  involved  ;  and,  if  it  should  so  happen,  that  we  shall  be  subjected  to 
some  of  those  frightful  changes  which  we  have  seen  ;  if  it  should  happen 
that  your  Lordships,  stripped  of  all  the  decorous  distinctions  of  human 
society,  should,  by  hands  at  once  base  and  cruel,  be  led  to  those  scaffolds 
and  machines  of  murder  upon  which  great  kings  and  glorious  queens  have 
shed  their  blood,  amidst  the  prelates,  amidst  the  nobles,  amidst  the  magis- 
trates who  supported  their  thrones, — may  you  in  those  moments  feel  that 
consolation  which  I  am  persuaded  they  felt  in  the  critical  moments  of 
their  dreadful  agony  ! 

My  Lords,  there  is  a  consolation,  and  a  great  consolation  it  is,  which 
often  happens  to  oppressed  virtue  and  fallen  dignity  ;  it  often  happens 
that  the  very  oppressors  and  persecutors  themselves  are  forced  to  bear 
testimony  in  its  favor.  The  Parliament  of  Paris  had  an  origin  very,  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  great  Court  before  which  I  stand  ;  the  Parliament  of 
Paris  continued  to  have  a  great  resemblance  to  it  in  its  Constitution,  even 
to  its  fall ;  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  my  Lords, — was  ;  it  is  gone  !  It  has 
passed  away  ;  it  has  vanished  like  a  dream  !  It  fell  pierced  by  the  sword 
of  the  Compte  de  Mirabeau.  And  yet  that  man,  at  the  time  of  his  inflict- 
I  ing  the  death- wound  of  that  Parliament,  produced  at  once  the  shortest 
and  the  grandest  funeral  oration  that  ever  was  or  could  be  made  upon  the 
departure  of  a  great  Court  of  magistracy.  When  he  pronounced  the  death 
sentence  upon  that  Parliament,  and  inflicted  the  mortal  wound,  he  declared 
that  his  motives  for  doing  it  were  merely  political,  and  that  their  hands 
were  as  pure  as  those  of  justice  itself,  which  they  administered — a  great 
and  glorious  exit,  my  Lords,  of  a  great  and  glorious  body  ! 

My  Lords,  if  you  must  fall,  may  you  so  fall  !  But  if  you  stand,  and 
I  trust  you  will,  together  with  the  fortunes  of  this  ancient  monarchy, 
together  with  the  ancient  laws  and  liberties  of  this  great  and  illustrious 
kingdom,  may  you  stand  as  unimpeached  in  honor  as  in  power  ;  may  you 
stand,  not  as  a  substitute  for  virtue,  but  as  an  ornament  of  virtue,  as  a 


480  EDMUND  BURKE 

security  for  virtue;  may  you  stand  long,  and  long  stand  the  terror  of 
tyrants  ;  may  you  stand  the  refuge  of  afflicted  nations  ;  may  you  stand  a 
sacred  temple,  for  the  perpetual  residence  af  an  inviolable  justice  ! 

MARIE  ANTOINETTE 

[Burke  had  seen  the  Queen  of  France  in  1772,  while  still  Dauphiness,  and  a 
vision  of  youth  and  beauty.  After  her  cruel  fate,  he  gave  the  following  memorable 
description  of  the  unhappy  victim,  in  tones  of  the  deepest  emotional  earnestness.] 

It  is  now  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  since  I  saw  the  Queen  of  France, 
then  the  Dauphiness,  at  Versailles  ;  and  surely  never  lighted  on  this  orb, 
which  she  hardly  seemed  to  touch,  a  more  deligiitful  vision.  I  saw  her 
just  above  the  horizon,  decorating  and  cheering  the  elevated  sphere  she 
had  just  begun  to  move  in,  glittering  like  the  morning  star,  full  of  life  and 
splendor  and  joy.  O,  what  a  sudden  revolution  !  and  what  a  heart  must 
I  have,  to  contemplate  without  emotion  that  elevation  and  that  fall ! 
Little  did  I  dream,  when  she  added  titles  of  veneration  to  those  of  enthu- 
siastic, distant,  respectful  love,  that  she  should  ever  be  obliged  to  carry 
the  sharp  antidote  against  disgrace  concealed  in  that  bosom  ;  little  did  I 
dream  that  I  should  have  lived  to  see  such  disasters  fallen  upon  her,  in  a 
nation  of  gallant  men,  in  a  nation  of  men  of  honor  and  of  cavaliers  !  I 
thought  ten  thousand  swords  must  have  leaped  from  their  scabbards  to 
avenge  even  a  look  that  threatened  her  with  insult. 

But  the  age  of  chivalry  is  gone  ;  that  of  sophisters,  economists,  and 
calculators  has  succeeded,  and  the  glory  of  Europe  is  extinguished  for- 
ever. Never,  never  more  shall  we  behold  that  generous  loyalty  to  rank 
and  sex,  that  proud  submission,  that  dignified  obedience,  that  subordina- 
tion of  the  heart,  which  kept  alive,  even  in  servitude  itself,  the  spirit  of 
an  exalted  freedom  !  The  unbought  grace  of  life,  the  cheap  defence  of 
nations,  the  nurse  of  manly  sentiment  and  heroic  enterprise  is  gone.  It 
is  gone,  that  sensibility  of  principle,  that  chastity  of  honor,  which  felt  a 
stain  like  a  wound,  which  inspired  courage  whilst  it  mitigated  ferocity, 
which  ennobled  whatever  it  touched,  and  under  which  vice  itself  lost  half 
its  evil,  by  losing  all  its  grossness. 


CHARLES  JAMES  FOX  ( J  749- 1 806) 

THE  FAMOUS  PARLIAMENTARY  DEBATER 


AMONG  the  British  statesmen  who  were  on  the  side  of  the  Ame- 
rican colonists  in  their  Revolutionary  War,  Fox  ranks  high, 
"*  being  still  more  radical  in  his  views  than  the  great  Lord 
Chatham.  Chatham  urged  conciliation  of  the  rebellious  colonists, 
but  Fox  favored  complete  separation,  and  foresaw  and  foretold  its 
advantages.  Throughout  the  war  he  was  the  most  vigorous  advocate 
of  the  claims  of  the  colonists.  At  a  later  date  the  Warren  Hasting's 
trial,  the  French  Revolution,  and  the  Napoleonic  wars  gave  him  an 
abundant  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  rare  talents,  and  he  played  a 
very  active  part  in  Parliament.  The  leader  of  the  opposition  to  Pitt, 
he  strenuously  opposed  the  war  with  France,  and  advocated  non-inter- 
ivention  views.  He  was  on  the  point  of  introducing  a  bill  for  the 
abolition  of  the  slave-trade  when  he  died  in  1806.  Fox,  despite  the 
vicious  irregularity  of  his  life,  was  a  man  of  genial  and  kindly 
instincts,  generous  and  devoid  of  malignant  feelings  towards  his 
{Opponents.  As  regards  his  powers  as  an  orator  he  had  a  phenomenal 
fluency  of  extemporaneous  speech,  and  we  may  quote  Burke's  opinion 
:liat  he  was  *'  the  greatest  debater  the  world  ever  saw,"  and  that  of 
jlVIackintosh,  who  called  him  "  the  most  Demosthenian  speaker  since 
Pemosthenes." 

I  THE  TYRANNY  OF  THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY 

[On  the  1st  of  December,  1783,  Fox  arraigned  in  a  vigorous  speech  the  repre- 
lensible  conduct  of  the  irresponsible  Kast  India  Company.  It  was  a  preliminary 
5tep  towards  the  subsequent  trial  of  Warren  Hastings  for  his  cruel  and  rapacious 
icts.] 

I         The  lionorable  gentleman  charges  me  with  abandoning  that  cause, 
Vhich,  he  says,  in  terms  of  flattery,  I  had  once  so  successfully  asserted. 
3X  481 


482  CHARLES  JAMES  FOX 

I  tell  him  in  reply,  that  if  he  were  to  search  the  history  of  my  life,  he 
would  find  that  the  period  of  it,  in  which  I  struggled  most  for  the  real, 
substantial  cause  of  liberty  is  this  very  moment  I  am  addressing  you. 
Freedom,  according  to  my  conception  of  it,  consists  in  the  safe  and  sacred 
possession  of  a  man's  property,  governed  bylaws  defined  and  certain; 
with  many  personal  privileges,  natural,  civil,  and  religious,  which  he  can- 
not surrender  without  ruin  to  himself ;  and  of  which  to  be  deprived  by 
any  other  power  is  despotism.  This  bill,  instead  of  subverting,  is  des- 
tined to  give  stability  to  these  principles  ;  instead  of  narrowing  the  basis 
of  freedom,  it  tends  to  enlarge  it ;  instead  of  suppressing,  its  object  is  to 
infuse  and  circulate  the  spirit  of  liberty. 

What  is  the  most  odious  species  of  tyranny  ?  Precisely  that  which 
this  bill  is  meant  to  annihilate.  That  a  handful  of  men,  free  themselves, 
should  execute  the  most  base  and  abominable  despotism  over  millions  of 
their  fellow-creatures  ;  that  innocence  should  be  the  victim  of  oppression  ; 
that  industry -should  toil  for  rapine ;  that  the  harmless  laborer  should 
sweat,  not  for  his  own  benefit,  but  for  the  luxury  and  rapacity  of  tyrannic 
depredation  ;  in  a  word,  that  thirty  millions  of  men,  gifted  by  Providence 
with  the  ordinary  endowments  of  humanity,  should  groan  under  a  system 
of  despotism. unmatched  in  all  the  histories  of  the  world. 

What  is  the  end  of  all  government  ?  Certainly  the  happiness  of  th 
governed.  Others  may  hold  other  opinions,  but  this  is  mine,  and  I  pro- 
claim it.  What  are  we  to  think  of  a  government  whose  good  fortune  is 
supposed  to  spring  from  the  calamities  of  its  subjects,  whose  aggrandize- 
ment grows  out  of  the  miseries  of  mankind  ?  This  is  the  kind  of  govern- 
ment exercised  under  the  East  India  Company  upon  the  natives  of  Hindo- 
stan  ;  and  the  subversion  of  that  infamous  government  is  the  main  object 
of  the  bill  in  question.  But  in  the  progress  of  accomplishing  this  enw 
it  is  objected  that  the  charter  of  the  company  should  not  be  violated , 
and  upon  this  point,  sir,  I  shall  deliver  my  opinion  without  disguise.  A 
charter  is  a  trust  to  one  or  more  persons  for  some  given  benefit.  If  this 
trust  be  abused,  if  the  benefit  be  not  obtained,  and  its  failure  arise  from 
palpable  guilt,  or  (what  in  this  case  is  fully  as  bad)  from  palpable  ignorance 
or  mismanagement,  will  any  man  gravely  say  that  that  trust  should  not 
be  resumed  and  delivered  to  other  hands  ;  more  especially  in  the  case  of 
the  East  India  Company,  whose  manner  of  executing  this  trust,  whose 
laxity  and  languor  have  produced,  and  tend  to  produce  consequences  dia- 
metrically opposite  to  the  ends  of  confiding  that  trust,  and  of  the  institu- 
tion for  which  it  was  granted  ? 

I  beg  of  gentlemen  to  be  aware  of  the  lengths  to  which  their  argu- 
ments upon  the  intangibility  of  this  charter  may  be  carried.     Every  syllable 


I 


II 


CHARLES  JAMES  FOX  ^     _  483 

virtually  impeaches  the  establishment  by  which  we  sit  in  this  House, 
in  the  enjoyment  of  this  freedom,  and  of  every  other  blessing  of  our 
Government.  These  kinds  of  arguments  are  batteries  against  the  main 
pillar  of  the  British  Constitution.  Some  men  are  consistent  with  their 
own  private  opinions,  and  discover  the  inheritance  of  family  maxims, 
when  they  question  the  principles  of  the  Revolution  ;  but  I  have  no  scru- 
ple in  subscribing  to  the  articles  of  that  creed  which  produced  it.  Sover- 
eigns are  sacred,  and  reverence  is  due  to  every  king;  yet,  with  all  my 
attachments  to  the  person  of  a  first  magistrate,  had  I  lived  in  the  reign  of 
James  II.  I  should  most  certainly  have  contributed  my  efforts,  and  borne 
part  in  -those  illustrious  struggles  which  vindicated  an  empire  from  heredi- 
tary servitude,  and  recorded  this  valuable  doctrine,  "that  trust  abused  is 
revocable." 

No  man,  sir,  will  tell  me  that  a  trust  to  a  company  of  merchants 
stands  upon  the  solemn  and  sanctified  ground  by  which  a  trust  is  com- 
mitted to  a  monarch  ;  and  I  am  at  a  loss  to  reconcile  the  conduct  of  men 
who  approve  that  resumption  of  violated  trust,  which  rescued  and  re-es- 
tablished our  unparalleled  and  admirable  Constitution  with  a  thousand 
valuable  improvements  and  advantages  at  the  Revolution,  and  who,  at  this 
moment,  rise  up  the  champions  of  the  Bast  India  Company's  charter, 
although  the  incapacity  and  incompetency  of  that  company  to  a  due  and 
adequate  discharge  of  the  trust  deposited  in  them  by  that  charter  are 
i";  themes  of  ridicule  and  contempt  to  the  world  ;  and  although  in  conse- 
quence of  their  mismanagement,  connivance,   and  imbecility,  combined 
with  the  wickedness  of  their  servants,  the  very  name  of  an  Englishman  is 
detested,  even  to  a  proverb,  through  all  Asia,  and  the  national  character 
is  become  degraded  and  dishonored.     To  rescue  that  name  from  odium 
and  redeem  this  character  from  disgrace  are  some  of  the  objects  of  the 
present  bill  ;  and,  gentlemen  should,  indeed,  gravely  weigh  their  opposi- 
tion to  a  measure  which,  with  a  thousand  other  points  not  less  valuable, 
aims  at  the  attainment  of  these  objects. 
Ijt         Those  who  condemn  the  present  bill  as  a  violation  of  the  chartered 
ji rights  of  the  East  India  Company,  condemn,  on  the  same  ground,  I  say 
:jjagain,  the  Revolution  as  a  violation  of  the  chartered  rights  of  King  James 
}jll.     He,  with  as  much  reason,  might  have  claimed  the  property  of  domin- 
jiion  ;  but  what  was  the  language  of  the  people?     "  No  ;  you  have  no 
'property  in  dominion  ;  dominion  was  vested  in  you,  as  it  is  in  every  chief 
magistrate,  for  the  benefit  of  the  community  to  be  governed ;  it  was  a 
sacred  trust  delegated  by  compact ;  you  have  abused  that  trust ;  you  hav6 
exercised  dominion  for  the  purposes  of  vexation  and  tyranny,  not  of  com- 
fort,  protection  and  good  order ;  and  we,  therefore,  resume  the  power 


484  ■  CHARLES  JAMES  FOX 

which,  was  originally  ours  ;  we  recur  to  the  first  principles  of  all  govern- 
ment— the  will  of  the  many  ;  and  it  is  our  will  that  you  shall  no  longer 
abuse  your  dominion."  The  case  is  the  same  with  the  Bast  India  Com- 
pany's government  over  a  territory,  as  it  has  been  said  by  my  honorable 
friend  (Mr.  Burke),  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  square  miles  in 
extent,  nearly  equal  to  all  Christian  Europe,  and  containing  thirty  millions 
of  the  human  race.  It  matters  not  whether  dominion  arise  from  conquest 
or  from  compact.  Conquest  gives  no  right  to  the  conqueror  to  be  a  tyrant; 
and  it  is  no  violation  of  right  to  abolish  the  authority  which  is  mis- 
used. 

LIBERTY  IS  STRENGTH  AND  ORDER 

[Fox,  a  supporter  of  the  French  Revolution,  uttered  in    1797   the   following 
vigorous  words  in  advocacy  of  liberty.] 

lyiberty  is  order  !     Liberty  is  strength  !     Look  round  the  world  and 
admire,  as  you  must,  the  instructive  spectacle.     You  will  see  that  liberty 
not  only  is  power  and  order,  but  that  it  is  power  and  order  predominant 
and  invincible,  that  it  derides  all  other  sources  of  strength.     And  shall 
the  preposterous  imagination  be  fostered  that  men  bred  in  liberty — the  first 
of  human  kind  who  asserted  the  glorious  distinction  of  forming  for  them- 
selves their  social  compact — can  be  condemned   to   silence   upon  their 
rights  ?     Is  it  to  be  conceived  that  men  who  have  enjoyed,  for  such  a  length 
of  days,  the  light  and  happiness  of  freedom,  can  be  restrained  and  shut  up 
again  in  the  gloom  of  ignorance  and  degradation?     As  well,  sir,  might Jl 
you  try,  by  a  miserable  dam,  to  shut  up  the  flowing  of  a  rapid  river.     The  *' 
rolling  and  impetuous  tide  would  burst  through  every  impediment  that 
man  might  throw  in  its  way  ;    and  the  only  consequence  of  the  impotent 
would  be,  that,  having  collected  new  force  by  its  temporary  suspension, 
in  forcing  itself  through  new  channels,  it  would  spread  devastation  and 
ruin  on  every  side.     The  progress  of  liberty  is  like  the  progress  of  the    j 
stream.     Kept  within  its  bounds,  it  is  sure  to  fertilize  the  country  through    1 
which  it  runs ;   but  no  power  can  arrest  it  in  its   passage ;    and   short-    | 
sighted,  as  well  as  wicked,  must  be  the  heart  of  the  projector  that  would 
strive  to  divert  its  course. 


I 


LORD  BROUGHAM 

Lord  Brougham,  a  distinguished  orator  of  England  in  the  19th 
Century,  advocated  the  Cause  of  Popular  Education  and  Reform 
and  opposition  to  the  Slave  Trade. 


LORD  THOMAS  ERSKINE  (J 7504823) 

THE  CELEBRATED  FORENSIC  ORATOR 


I  T  In  1774,  Thomas  Erskine,  son  of  the  Scottish  Earl  of  Buchan, 
III  happened  to  enter  the  court  presided  over  hy  the  famous  Lord 
'  ^  Mansfield,  and  was  invited  by  him  to  sit  by  his  side.  He 
listened  to  the  trial  with  the  result  that,  convinced  that  he  could 
easily  surpass  any  speech  he  had  heard,  he  resolved  to  adopt  the  law 
as  his  profession.  Leaving  the  fashionable  world  of  London,  where 
his  charming  social  powers  had  made  him  a  marked  success,  he 
entered  Lincoln's  Inn  as  a  student,  and  was  called  to  the  bar  in  1778. 
In  his  first  case,  in  which  his  client  was  on  trial  for  libel  on  the  Earl 
of  Sandwich,  a  member  of  the  Cabinet,  Erskine  showed  such  remark- 
able powders  as  to  astonish  all  his  hearers,  and  to  bring  himself  at  a 
bound  into  the  highest  rank  of  his  profession. 

Erskine  subsequently  entered  Parliament,  but  political  debate 
was  not  to  his  taste,  and  he  failed  to  make  any  high  mark  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  In  the  legal  arena,  however,  his  success  con- 
tinued, high  authorities  looking  upon  him  as  unequalled,  either  in 
ancient  or  modern  times,  as  an  advocate  in  the  forum.  In  the  defence 
of  right  against  might  he  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  examples 
in  English  history.  He  was  the  successful  defender  of  Lord  George 
Gordon,  of  Thomas  Paine,  of  Stockdale,  of  John  Home  Tooke,  and 
of  others  who  had  dared  to  defend  the  rights  of  the  people  against 
the  acts  of  the  great.  He  became  Lord  Chancellor  in  1806,  and  was 
raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Erskine,  retiring  from  office  in  1807. 

THE  GOVERNING  OF  INDIA 

[Burke's  articles  of  impeachment  against  Warren  Hastings,  were  published  and 
widely  spread  in  advance  of  their  delivery  before  the  House  of  I^ords,  and  prejudiced 
the   case  against  the  defendant.     This  unfair  act  of  the  House  of  Commons  was 

485 


486  LORD  THOMAS  ERSKINE 

sharply  criticised  in  a  pamphlet  published  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Logan.  The  author  was 
put  on  trial  for  libel,  and  engaged  Erskine  to  defend  him.  Brskine's  speech  at  this 
trial,  from  which  we  give  a  select  passage,  was  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  eloquent 
displays  of  his  powers  of  oratory.] 

It  may  and  must  be  true  that  Mr.  Hastings  has  repeatedly  offended 
against  the  rights  and  privileges  of  Asiatic  government,  if  he  was  the 
faithful  deputy  of  a  power  which  could  not  maintain  itself  for  an  hour 
without  trampling  upon  both.  He  may  and  must  have  offended  against 
the  laws  of  God  and  nature  if  he  was  the  faithful  viceroy  of  an  empire 
wrested  in  blood  from  the  people  to  whom  God  and  nature  had  given  it. 
He  may  and  must  have  preserved  that  unjust  dominion  over  timorous  and 
abject  nations  by  a  terrifying,  overbearing,  insulting  superiority,  if  he 
was  the  faithful  administrator  of  your  Government,  which,  having  no 
root  in  consent  or  affection,  no  foundation  in  similarity  of  interest,  nor 
support  from  any  one  principle  which  cements  men  together  in  society, 
could  only  be  upheld  by  alternate  stratagem  and  force.  The  unhappy 
people  of  India,  feeble  and  effeminate  as  they  are  from  the  softness  of 
their  climate,  and  subdued  and  broken  as  they  have  been  by  the  knavery 
and  strength  of  civilization,  still  occasionally  start  up  with  all  the  vigor 
and  intelligence  of  insulted  nature.  To  be  governed  at  all,  they  must  be 
governed  with  a  rod  of  iron  ;  and  our  empire  in  the  Eastern  World  long 
since  must  have  been  lost  to  Great  Britain,  if  civil  skill  and  military 
prowess  had  not  united  their  efforts  to  support  an  authority  which  Heaven 
never  gave,  by  means  which  it  never  can  sanction. 

Gentlemen,  I  think  I  can  observe  that  you  are  touched  with  this  way 
of  considering  the  subject,  and  I  can  account  for  it.  I  have  not  been 
considering  it  through  the  old  medium  of  books,  but  have  been  speaking 
of  man  and  his  nature,  and  of  human  dominion,  from  what  I  have  seen 
of  them  myself  amongst  reluctant  nations  submitting  to  our  authority. 
I  know  what  they  feel,  and  how  such  feelings  can  alone  be  repressed.  ^| 
have  heard  them  in  my  youth  from  a  naked  savage,  in  the  indignant  cha^H 
acter  of  a  prince,  surrounded  by  his  subjects,  addressing  the  governor  of 
a  British  colony,  holding  a  bundle  of  sticks  in  his  hand  as  the  notes  of 
his  unlettered  eloquence.  "  Who  is  it  ?  "  said  the  jealous  ruler  over  the 
desert,  encroached  upon  by  the  restless  foot  of  English  adventure ;  '  *  who 
is  it  that  causes  this  river  to  rise  in  the  high  mountains  and  to  empty 
itself  in  the  ocean  ?  Who  is  it  that  causes  to  blow  the  loud  winds  of 
winter,  and  that  calms  them  again  in  the  summer  ?  Who  is  it  that  rears 
up  the  shade  of  those  lofty  forests,  and  blasts  them  with  the  quick  light- 
ning at  his  pleasure  ?  The  same  Being  who  gave  to  you  a  country  on  the 
other  side  of  the  waters,  and  gave  ours  to  us  ;  and  by  this  title  we  will 


LORD  THOMAS   ERSKINE  487 

defend  it,"  said  the  warrior,  throwing  down  his  tomahawk  upon  the 
ground,  and  raising  the  war-sound  of  his  nation.  These  are  the  feelings 
of  subjugated  man  all  round  the  globe  ;  and  depend  upon  it,  nothing  but 
fear  will  control  where  it  is  vain  to  look  for  affection. 

These  reflections  are  the  only  antidotes  to  those  anathemas  of  super- 
human eloquence  which  have  lately  shaken  these  walls  that  surround  Us, 
but  which  it  unaccountably  falls  to  my  province,  whether  I  will  or  no,  a 
little  to  stem  the  torrent  of,  by  reminding  you  that  you  have  a  mighty 
sway  in  Asia,  which  cannot  be  maintained  by  the  finer  sympathies  of  life 
or  the  practice  of  its  charities  and  affections — what  will  they  do  for  you 
when  surrounded  by  two  hundred  thousand  men  with  artillery,  cavalry, 
and  elephants,  calling  upon  you  for  their  dominions  which  you  have  rob- 
bed them  of?  Justice  may,  no  doubt,  in  such  case,  forbid  the  levying  of 
a  fine  to  pay  a  revolting  soldiery  ;  a  treaty  may  stand  in  the  way  of  increas- 
ing a  tribute  to  keep  up  the  very  existence  of  the  government ;  and  deli- 
cacy of  women  may  forbid  all  entrance  into  a  zenana  for  money,  whatever 
may  be  the  necessity  for  taking  it.  All  these  things  must  ever  be  occur- 
ring. •  But  under  the  pressure  of  such  constant  difficulties,  so  dangerous 
to  national  honor,  it  might  be  better,  perhaps,  to  think  of  effectually 
securing  it  altogether,  by  recalling  our  troops  and  our  merchants,  and 
abandoning  our  Oriental  empire.  Until  this  be  done,  neither  religion  nor 
philosophy  can  be  pressed  very  far  into  the  aid  of  reformation  and  punish- 
ment. If  England,  from  a  lust  of  ambition  and  dominion,  will  insist  on 
maintaining  despotic  rule  over  distant  and  hostile  nations,  beyond  all  com- 
parison more  numerous  and  extended  than  herself,  and  gives  commission 
to  her  viceroys  to  govern  them  with  no  other  instructions  than  to  preserve 
I  them,  and  to  secure  permanently  their  revenues — with  wha.t  color  of  con- 
1  sistency  or  reason  can  she  place  herself  in  the  moral  chair,  and  affect  to 
I  be  shocked  at  the  execution  of  her  own  orders  ;  advertising  to  the  exact 
measure  of  wickedness  and  injustice  necessary  to  their  execution,  and 
complaining  only  of  the  excess  as  the  immorality  ;  considering  her  author- 
ity as  a  dispensation  for  breaking  the  commands  of  God,  and  the  breach 
of  them  as  only  punishable  when  contrary  to  the  ordinances  of  man  ? 

Such  a  proceeding,  gentlemen,  begets  serious  reflection.  It  would  be 
better,  perhaps,  for  the  masters  and  the  servants  of  all  such  governments 
to  join  in  a  supplication  that  the  great  Author  of  violated  humanity  may 
not  confound  them  together  in  one  common  j  udgment  .... 

It  now  only  remains  to  remind  you  that  another  consideration  has 
been  strongly  pressed  upon  by  you,  and,  no  doubt,  will  be  insisted  on  in 
reply.  You  will  be  told  that  the  matters  which  I  have  been  justifying  as 
legal,  and  even  meritorious,  have  therefore  not  been  made  the  subject  of 


488  LORD   THOMAS  ERSKINE 

complaint ;  and  that  whatever  intrinsic  merit  parts  of  the  book  may  be 
supposed  or  even  admitted  to  possess,  such  merit  can  afford  no  justifica- 
tion to  the  selected  passages,  some  of  which,  even  with  the  context,  carry 
the  meaning  charged  by  the  information,  and  which  are  indecent  animad- 
versions on  authority.  To  this  I  would  answer  (still  protesting  as  I  do 
against  the  application  of  any  one  of  the  innuendos)  that  if  you  are  firmly 
persuaded  of  the  singleness  and  purity  of  the  author's  intentions,  you  are 
not  bound  to  subject  him  to  infamy,  because,  in  the  zealous  career  of  a 
just  and  animated  composition,  he  happens  to  have  tripped  with  his  pen 
into  an  intemperate  expression  in  one  or  two  instances  of  a  long  work. 
If  this  severe  duty  were  binding  on  your  consciences,  the  liberty  of  the 
press  would  be  an  empty  sound,  and  no  man  could  venture  to  write  on  any 
subject,  however  pure  his  purpose,  without  an  attorney  at  one  elbow  and 
a  counsel  at  the  other. 

From  minds  thus  subdued  by  the  terrors  of  punishment,  there  could 
issue  no  works  of  genius  to  expand  the  empire  of  human  reason,  nor  any 
masterly  compositions  on  the  general  nature  of  government,  by  the  help 
of  which  the  great  commonwealths  of  mankind  have  founded  their  estab- 
lishments ;  much  less  any  of  those  useful  applications  of  them  to  critical 
conjectures,  by  which,  from  time  to  time,  our  own  Constitution,  by  the 
exertion  of  patriotic  citizens,  has  been  brought  back  to  its  standard. 
Under  such  terrors  all  the  great  lights  of  science  and  civilization  must  be 
extinguished,  for  men  cannot  communicate  their  free  thoughts  to  one 
another  with  a  lash  held  over  their  heads.  It  is  the  nature  of  everything 
that  is  great  and  useful,  both  in  the  animate  and  inanimate  world,  to  be 
wild  and  irregular,  and  we  must  be  contented  to  take  them  with  the  alloys 
which  belong  to  them,  or  live  without  them.  Genius  breaks  from  the 
fetters  of  criticism,  but  its  wanderings  are  sanctioned  by  its  majesty  and 
wisdom  when  it  advances  in  its  path ;  subject  it  to  the  critic,  and  you 
tame  it  into  dullness.  Mighty  rivers  break  down  their  banks  in  the  winter, 
sweeping  away  to  death  the  flocks  which  are  fattened  on  the  soil  that  they 
fertilize  in  the  summer  ;  the  few  may  be  saved  by  embankments  from 
drowning,  but  the  flock  must  perish  from  hunger.  Tempests  occasionally 
shake  our  dwellings  and  dissipate  our  commerce  ;  but  they  scourge  before 
them  the  lazy  elements,  which,  without  them,  would  stagnate  into  pestj 
lence.  In  like  manner,  liberty  herself,  the  last  and  best  gift  of  God 
his  creatures,  must  be  taken  just  as  she  is  ;  you  might  pare  her  down  in^ 
bashful  regularity,  and  shape  her  into  a  perfect  model  of  severe,  scrup^ 
lous  law,  but  she  would  then  be  liberty  no  longer  ;  and  you  must  be  cc 
tent  to  die  under  the  lash  of  this  inexorable  justice  which  you  ha^ 
exchanged  for  the  banners  of  freedom. 


HENRY  GRATTAN  (J 7504 820) 

AN  EMINENT  IRISH  STATESMAN  AND  ORATOR 


mRELAND  is  eminent  among  nations  for  the  number  of  famous 
orators  who  have  been  born  upon  her  soil.  We  may  name 
men  of  such  celebrity  as  Burke,  Sheridan,  Sheil,  Emmet,  Cur- 
ran,  Grattan,  and  O'Connell.  Among  these  Grattan  stands  high.  Of 
his  eminence  in  oratory  it  is  difficult  to  say  too  much.  Lecky  says 
of  him  :  "  No  British  orator  except  Chatham  had  an  equal  power  of 
firing  an  educated  audience  with  an  intense  enthusiasm,  or  of  animat- 
ing and  inspiring  a  nation,^'  and  Mackintosh  asserts  that,  '^  The  purity 
of  his  life  was  the  brightness  of  his  glory.  Among  all  the  men  of 
genius  I  have  known,  I  have  never  found  such  native  grandeur  of 
soul  accompanying  all  the  wisdom  of  age  and  all  the  simplicity  of 
genius." 

THE  RIGHTS  OF  IRELAND 

[Of  Grattan's  speech  in  1780,  on  "  lyiberty  as  an  Inalienable  Right,"  it  has  been 
said:  "  Nothing  equal  to  it  had  ever  been  heard  in  Ireland,  nor  probably  was  its 
superior  ever  delivered  in  the  British  House  of  Commons.  Other  speeches  may  have 
matched  it  in  argument  and  information,  but  in  startling  energy  and  splendor  of  style 
it  surpassed  them  all."  His  eloquence  on  this  subject  is  vividly  displayed  in  the  fol- 
lowing extract.] 

England  now  smarts  under  the  lesson  of  the  American  War ;  the 
doctrine  of  imperial  legislation  she  feels  to  be  pernicious  ;  the  revenues 
and  monopolies  annexed  to  it  she  has  found  to  be  untenable  ;  she  has  lost 
the  power  to  enforce  it ;  her  enemies  are  a  host,  pouring  upon  her  from 
all  quarters  of  the  earth  ;  her  armies  are  dispersed  ;  the  sea  is  not  hers  ; 
she  has  no  minister,  no  ally,  no  admiral,  none  inVhom  she  long  confides, 
and  no  general  whom  she  has  not  disgraced  ;  the  balance  of  her  fate  is  in 
the  hands  of  Ireland  ;  you  are  not  only  her  last  connection,  you  are  the 
only  nation  in  Europe  that  is  not  her  enemy.     Besides,  there  does,  of  late, 

439 


490  HENRY   GRATTAN 

a  certain  damp  and  spurious  supineness  overcast  her  arms  and  councils, 
miraculous  as  that  vigor  which  has  lately  inspirited  yours.  For  with  you 
everything  is  the  reverse  ;  never  was  there  a  Parliament  in  Ireland  so  pos- 
sessed of  the  confidence  of  the  people  ;  you  are  the  greatest  political  assem- 
bly now  sitting  in  the  world  ;  you  are  at  the  head  of  an  immense  army — 
nor  do  we  only  possess  an  unconquerable  force,  but  a  certain  unquench- 
able public  fire,  which  has  touched  all  ranks  of  men  like  a  visitation. 

Turn  to  the  growth  and  spring  of  your  country,  and  behold  and 
admire  it.  Where  do  you  find  a  nation  which,  upon  whatever  concerns  the 
rights  of  mankind,  expresses  herself  with  more  truth  or  force,  perspicuity 
or  justice — not  the  set  phrase  of  scholastic  men,  not  the  tame  unreality 
of  court  addresses,  not  the  vulgar  raving  of  a  rabble,  but  the  genuine 
speech  of  liberty,  and  the  unsophisticated  oratory  of  a  free  nation  ? 

See  her  military  ardor,  not  only  in  forty  thousand  men,  conducted  by 
instinct  as  they  were  raised  by  inspiration,  but  manifested  in  the  zeal  and 
promptitude  of  every  young  member  of  the  growing  community.  Let 
corruption  tremble ;  let  the  enemy,  foreign  or  domestic,  tremble  ;  but  let 
the  friends  of  liberty  rejoice  at  these  means  of  safety  and  this  hour  of 
redemption.  Yes,  there  does  exist  an  enlightened  sense  of  rights,  a  young 
appetite  for  freedom,  a  solid  strength,  and  a  rapid  fire,  which  not  only 
put  a  declaration  of  right  within  your  power,  but  put  it  out  of  your  power 
to  decline  one.  Eighteen  counties  are  at  your  bar  ;  they  stand  there  with 
the  compact  of  Henry,  with  the  character  of  John,  and  with  all  the  pas 
sions  of  the  people.  **  Our  lives  are  at  your  service,  but  our  liberties — 
we  received  them  from  God  ;  we  will  not  resign  them  to  man." 

I  read  from  Lord  North's  proposition  ;  I  wish  to  be  satisfied,  but 
am  controlled  by  a  paper — I  will  not  call  it  a  law — it  is  the  6th  of  George 
I.  [The  paper  was  read.]  I  will  ask  the  gentlemen  of  the  long  robe  : 
Is  this  the  law  ?  I  ask  them  whether  it  is  not  practice.  I  appeal  to  the 
judges  of  the  land  whether  they  are  not  in  a  course  of  declaring  that  the 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  naming  Ireland,  binds  her.  I  appeal  to  the 
magistrates  of  justice  whether  they  do  not,  from  time  to  time,  execute 
certain  acts  of  the  British  Parliament.  I  appeal  to  the  officers  of  the  army 
whether  they  do  not  fine,  confine,  and  execute  their  fellow  subjects  by 
virtue  of  the  Mutiny  Act,  an  Act  of  the  British  Parliament ;  and  I  appeal 
to  this  House  whether  a  country  so  circumstanced  is  free.  Where  is  the 
freedom  of  trade  ?  Where  is  the  security  of  property  ?  Where  is  the 
liberty  of  the  people  ?  I  here,  in  this  Declaratory  Act,  see  my  country 
proclaimed  a  slave  ?  I  see  every  man  itl  this  House  enrolled  a  slave.  I 
see  the  judges  of  the  realm,  the  oracles  of  the  law,  borne  down  by  an 
unauthorized  foreign  power,  by  the  authority  of  the  British   Parliament 


I 

i 


ii 


HENRY    GRATTAN  491 

against  the  law  !  I  see  the  magistrates  prostrate,  and  I  see  Parliament 
witness  of  these  infringements,  and  silent — silent  or  employed  to  preach 
moderation  to  the  people,  whose  liberties  it  will  not  restore  !  I  therefore 
say,  with  the  voice  of  three  million  people,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
import  of  sugar,  beetle-wood,  and  panellas,  and  the  export  of  woolens  and 
kerseys,  nothing  is  safe,  satisfactory,  or  honorable,  nothing  except  a 
declaration  of  right. 

What  !  are  you,  with  three  million  men  at  your  back,  with  charters 
in  one  hand  and  arms  in  the  other,  afraid  to  say  you  are  a  free  people  ? 
.   Are  you,  the  greatest  House  of  Commons  that  ever  sat  in  Ireland,  that  want 
I  but  this  one  act  to  equal  that  English  House  of  Commons  that  passed  the 
'   Petition  of  Right,  or  that  other  that  passed  the  Declaration  of  Right, — 
,  are  you  afraid  to  tell  the  British  Parliament  you  are  a  free  people  ?     Are 
!  the  cities  and  the  instructing  counties,  which  have  breathed  a  spirit  that 
would  have  done  honor  to  old  Rome  when  Rome  did  honor  to  mankind — 
are  the}^  to  be  free  by  connivance  ?     Are  the  military  associations,  those 
bodies  whose  origin,  progress,  and  deportment  have  transcended,  or  equaled 
at  least,  anything  in  modern  or  ancient  story — is  the  vast  line  of  the 
northern  army, — are  they  to  be  free  by  connivance  ?     What  man  will  set- 
tle among  you  ?     Where  is  the  use  of  the  Naturalization  Bill  ?     What  man 
will  settle  among  j^ou  ?     Who  will  leave  a  land  of  liberty  and  a  settled 
government  for  a  kingdom  controlled  by  the  Parliament  of  another  coun- 
!  try,  whose  liberty  is  a  thing  by  stealth,  whose  trade  a  thing  by  permission, 
I  whose  judges  deny  her  charters,  whose  Parliament  leaves  everything  at 
1  random ;  where  the  chance  of  freedom  depends  upon  the  hope  that  the 
j  jury  shall  despise  the  judge  stating  a  British  Act,  or  a  rabble  stop  the 
I  magistrate  executing  it,  rescue  your  abdicated  privileges,  and  save  the 
,  j  Constitution  by  trampling  on  the  Government, — by  anarchy  and  confu- 
!  I  sion !  .    .    .    . 

I    might,    as    a   constituent,   come  to   your  bar,   and  demand    my 

liberty.     I  do  call  upon  you,  by  the  laws  of  the  land  and  their  violation, 

j  by  the  instruction  of  eighteen  counties,  by  the  arms,  inspiration,   and 

'  providence  of  the  present  moment,  to  tell  us  the  rule  by  which  we  shall 

RO, — assert  the  law  of  Ireland — declare  the  liberty  of  the  land. 

I  will  not  be  answered  by  a  public  lie,  in  the  shape  of  an  amendment ; 
neither,  speaking  for  the  subject's  freedom,  am  I  to  hear  of  faction.  I 
wish  for  nothing  but  to  breathe,  in  this  our  island,  in  common  with  my 
fellow-subjects,  the  air  of  liberty.  I  have  no  ambition,  unless  it  be  the 
ambition  to  break  your  chain  and  contemplate  your  glory.  I  never  will 
be  satisfied  so  long  as  the  meanest  cottager  in  Ireland  has  a  link  of  the 
British  chain  clanking  to  his  rags  ;  he  may  be  naked,  he  shall  not  be  in 


492  HENRY    GRATTAN 

iron;  and  I  do  see  the  time  is  at  hand,  the  spirit  is  gone  forth,  the  declar- 
ation is  planted ;  and  though  great  men  shall  apostatize,  yet  the  cause 
will  live  ;  and  though  the  public  speaker  should  die,  yet  the  immortal  fire 
shall  outlast  the  organ  which  conveyed  it ;  and  the  breath  of  liberty,  like 
the  word  of  the  holy  man,  will  not  die  with  the  prophet,  but  survive  him. 

THE  EPITAPH  OF  ENGLAND 

[From  Grattan's  speeches  in  the  British  House  of  Commons ,  we  offer  the  fol- 
lowing brief  but  telling  example  of  fervent  eloquence.] 

The  Kingdom  of  Ireland,  with  her  imperial  crown,  stands  at  your 
Bar.  She  applies  for  the  civil  liberty  of  three-fourths  of  her  children. 
Will  you  dismiss  her  without  a  hearing  ?  You  cannot  do  it !  I  say  you 
cannot  finally  do  it !  The  interest  of  your  country  would  not  support 
you  ;  the  feelings  of  your  country  would  not  support  you  :  it  is  a  proceed- 
ing that  cannot  long  be  persisted  in.  No  courtier  so  devoted,,  no  politician 
so  hardened,  no  conscience  so  capacious  !  I  am  not  afraid  of  occasional 
majorities.  A  majority  cannot  overlay  a  great  principle.  God  will  guard 
His  own  cause  against  rank  majorities.  In  vain  shall  men  appeal  to  a 
church-cry,  or  to  a  mock  thunder  ;  the  proprietor  of  the  bolt  is  on  the 
side  of  the  people. 

It  was  the  expectation  of  the  repeal  of  Catholic  disability  which  car- 
ried the  Union.  Should  you  wish  to  support  the  minister  of  the  crown 
against  the  people  of  Ireland,  retain  the  Union,  and  perpetuate  the  dis- 
qualification, the  consequence  must  be  something  more  than  alienation. 
When  you  finally  decide  against  the  Catholic  question,  you  abandon  the 
idea  of  governing  Ireland  by  affection,  and  you  adopt  the  idea  of  coercion 
in  its  place.  You  are  pronouncing  the  doom  of  England.  If  you  ask 
how  the  people  of  Ireland  feel  towards  you,  ask  yourselves  how  you  woul 
feel  towards  us  if  we  disqualified  three-fourths  of  the  people  of  Knglan 
forever.  The  day  you  finally  ascertain  the  disqualification  of  the  Cath 
lie,  you  pronounce  the  doom  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  just  it  should  bl 
so.  The  king  who  takes  away  the  liberty  of  his  subjects  loses  his  crown  ; 
the  people  who  take  away  the  liberty  of  their  fellow-subjects  lose  their 
empire.  The  scales  of  your  own  destinies  are  in  your  own  hands  ;  and  if 
you  throw  out  the  civil  liberty  of  the  Irish  Catholic,  depend  on  it,  old 
England  will  be  weighed  in  the  balance,  and  found  wanting  :  you  w 
then  have  dug  your  own  grave,  and  you  may  write  your  own  epita 
thus  : — *  ^England  died  because  she  taxed  America^  and  disqualified  Ireland 


I 


sis: 

i 


JOHN  PHILPOT  CURRAN  (I750-J8J7) 

THE  HUMOROUS  ORATOR  OF  THE  IRISH  BAR 


NEVER  had  Ireland  another  legal  orator  like  Curran.     He  was  a 
member  of  the   Irish    Parliament   after  1783,  but   his   career 
— ^     there  was  quite  eclipsed  by  that  at  the  Bar.     His  eloquence, 
humor  and  sarcasm  brought   him  an  extensive  practice.     In  cross- 
examination  he  was  inimitable ;  *'  he  argued,  he  cajoled,  he  ridiculed, 
i  he  mimicked,  he  played  off  the  various  artillery  of  his  talent  upon  the 
witness,"  Charles  Philips  says.     "  There  never  lived  a  greater  advo- 
cate ;  certainly  never  one  more  suited  to  the  country  in  which  his  lot 
was  cast.     His  eloquence  was  copious,  rapid  and  ornate,  and  his  power 
of  mimicry  beyond  all  description."     He   began   his  career  with  a 
defect  in  speech,  the  school-boys  calling  him  "  Stuttering  Jack  Cur- 
j  ran."     Like  Demosthenes,  he  overcame  this  by  earnest  effort,  practic- 
I  ing  before  a  glass,  declaiming  celebrated  orations  and  other  means. 
I  Antony's  oration  over  the  dead  body  of  Csesar  was  his  favorite  model 

of  eloquence. 
!  THE  PENSION  SYSTEM 

[As  an  example  of  Curran's  sarcasm,  we  append  a  brief  extract  from  his  remark's 
in  I780  on  the  Pension  System.] 

This  polyglot  of  wealth,  this  museum  of  curiosities,  the  Pension  lyist, 
embraces  every  link  in  the  human  chain,  every  description  of  men,  women, 
and  children,  from  the  exalted  excellence  of  a  Hawke  or  a  Rodney,  to  the 
debased  situation  of  the  lady  who  hurableth  herself  that  she  may  be 
exalted.  But  the  lessons  it  inculcates  form  its  greatest  perfection ;  it 
teacheth  that  Sloth  and  Vice  may  eat  that  bread  which  Virtue  and 
Honesty  may  starve  for  after  they  have  earned  it.  It  teaches  the  idle  and 
dissolute  to  look  up  for  that  support  which  they  are  too  proud  to  stoop 
and  earn.  It  directs  the  minds  of  men  to  an  entire  reliance  on  the  ruling 
Power  of  the  State,  who  feeds  the  ravens  of  the  Royal  aviary,  that  cry 

493 


494  JOHN   PHILPOT   CURRAN 

continually  for  food.  It  teaches  them  to  imitate  those  saints  on  the  Pen- 
sion lyist  that  are  like  the  lilies  of  the  field ;  they  toil  not,  neither  do 
they  spin,  and  yet  are  arrayed  like  Solomon  in  his  glory.  In  fine,  it 
teaches  a  lesson,  which,  indeed,  they  might  have  learned  from  Kpictetus, 
that  it  is  sometimes  good  not  to  be  over-virtuous  ;  it  shows  that,  in  pro- 
portion as  our  distresses  increase,  the  munificence  of  the  Crown  increases 
also ;  in  proportion  as  our  clothes  are  rent,  the  royal  mantle  is  extended 

over  us. 

THE  MARCH  OF  THE  MIND 

[From  a  speech  in  the  Irish  Parliament  in  1796  we  choose  the  following  brief 
extract,  in  which  Curran  replaces  satire  and  humor  by  eloquence,  and  strikingly 
delineates  the  march  of  the  human  mind.  J 

Gentlemen  say  the  Catholics  have  got  everything  but  seats  in  Parlia- 
ment. Are  we  really  afraid  of  giving  them  that  privilege  ?  Are  we  seri- 
ously afraid  that  Catholic  venality  might  pollute  the  immaculate  integrity 
of  the  House  of  Commons  ? — that  a  Catholic  member  would  be  more 
accessible  to  a  promise,  or  a  pension,  or  a  bribe,  than  a  Protestant  ?  Lay 
your  hands  upon  your  hearts,  look  in  one  another's  faces,  and  say  Yes, 
and  I  will  vote  against  this  amendment.  But  is  it  the  fact  that  they  have 
everything  ?  Is  it  the  fact  that  they  have  the  common  benefit  of  the  Con- 
stitution, or  the  common  protection  of  the  law  ? 

Another  gentleman  has  said,  the  Catholics  have  got  much,  and  ought 
to  be  content.  Why  have  they  got  that  much  ?  Is  it  from  the  minister  ?1 
Is  it  from  the  Parliament  which  threw  their  petition  over  its  Bar  ?  No ! 
they  got  it  by  the  great  revolution  of  human  afiairs  ;  by  the  astonishing 
march  of  the  human  mind ;  a  march  that  has  collected  too  much 
momentum,  in  its  advance,  to  be  now  stopped  in  its  progress.  The  bark 
is  still  afloat ;  she  is  freighted  with  the  hopes  and  liberties  of  millions  oi 
men  ;  she  is  already  under  way  ;  the  rower  may  faint,  or  the  wind  may 
sleep,  but,  rely  upon  it,  she  has  already  acquired  an  energj^  of  advance- 
ment that  will  support  her  course  and  bring  her  to  her  destination  ;  rely 
upon  it,  whether  much  or  little  remains,  it  is  now  vain  to  withhold  it; 
rely  upon  it,  you  may  as  well  stamp  your  foot  upon  the  earth,  in  order  to 
prevent  its  revolution.  You  cannot  stop  it !  You  will  only  remain  a  silM 
gnomon  upon  its  surface,  to  measure  the  rapidity  of  rotation,  until  yott 
are  forced  round  and  buried  in  the  shade  of  that  body  whose  irresistible 
course  you  would  endeavor  to  oppose  ! 

THE  EVIDENCE  OF  MR.  O'BRIEN 

[The  following  is  an  example  of  Curran 's  method  of  presenting  the  evidence  of 
a  witness  to  a  jury.] 


JOHN  PHILPOT  CURRAN  495 

What  is  the  evidence  of  O'Brien  ?  what  has  he  stated?  Here,  gentle- 
men, let  me  claim  the  benefits  of  that  great  privilege  which  distinguishes 
trial  by  jury  in  this  country  from  all  the  world.  Twelve  men,  not  emerg- 
ing from  the  must  and  cobwebs  of  a  study,  abstracted  from  human  nature, 
or  only  acquainted  with  its  extravagances ;  but  twelve  men,  conversant 
with  life,  and  practised  in  those  feelings  which  mark  the  common  and 
necessary  intercourse  between  man  and  man.  Such  are  you,  gentlemen  ; 
how,  then,  does  Mr.  O'Brien's  tale  hang  together?  Look  to  its  com- 
mencement. He  walks  along  Thomas  Street,  in  the  open  day  (a  street 
not  the  least  populous  in  the  city),  and  is  accosted  by  a  man,  who,  with- 
out any  preface,  tells  him  he'll  be  murdered  before  he  goes  half  the  street, 
unless  he  becomes  a  United  Irishman  !  Do  you  think  this  a  probable 
story  ? 

Suppose  any  of  you,  gentlemen,  be  a  United  Irishman,  or  a  Free- 
mason, or  a  Friendly  Brother,  and  that  you  met  me. walking  innocently 
along,  just  like  Mr.  O'Brien,  and  meaning  no  harm,  would  you  say, 
"  Stop,  sir,  don't  go  further,  you'll  be  murdered  before  you  go  half  the 
street,  if  you  do  not  become  a  United  Irishman,  a  Freemason,  or  a  Friendly 
Brother  ?  ' '  Did  you  ever  hear  so  coaxing  an  invitation  to  felony  as 
this?  "  Sweet  Mr.  James  O'Brien,  come  in  and  save  your  precious  life; 
come  in  and  take  an  oath,  or  you'll  be  murdered  before  you  go  half  the 
street !  Do,  sweetest,  dearest,  Mr.  James  O'Brien,  come  in  and  do  not 
risk  your  valuable  existence."  What  a  loss  had  he  been  to  his  king, 
whom  he  loves  so  marvelously  ! 

Well,  what  does  poor  Mr.  O'Brien  do?  Poor,  dear  man,  he  stands 
petrified  with  the  magnitude  of  his  danger  ;  all  his  members  refuse  their 
office  ;  he  can  neither  run  from  the  danger,  nor  call  for  assistance  ;  his 
tongue  cleaves  to  his  mouth,  and  his  feet  incorporate  with  the  paving 
stones  ;  it  is  in  vain  that  his  expressive  eye  silently  implores  protection  of 
the  passenger ;  he  yields  at  length,  as  greater  men  have  done,  and 
resignedly  submits  to  his  fate  :  he  then  enters  the  house,  and,  being  led 
into  a  room,  a  parcel  of  men  make  faces  at  him  ;  but  mark  the  metamor- 
phosis— well  may  it  be  said,  that  **  miracles  will  never  cease," — he  who 
feared  to  resist  in  the  open  air,  and  in  the  face  of  the  public,  becomes  a 
bravo,  when  pent  up  in  a  room,  and  environed  by  sixteen  men  ;  and  one 
is  obliged  to  bar  the  door,  while  another  swears  him  ;  which,  after  some 
resistance,  is  accordingly  done,  and  poor  Mr.  O'Brien  becomes  a  United 
Irishman,  for  no  earthly  purpose  whatever,  but  merely  to  save  his  sweet 
life! 


RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN  (I75I-J8t6 

THE  CELEBRATED  ORATOR  AND  DRAMATIST 


i 


n 

i 


UBLIN  has  the  honor  of  being  the  birthplace  of  two  of  Great 
Britain's  most  famous  orators — Edmund  Burke  and  Richard 
Brinsley  Sheridan,  though  both  of  them  spent  their  lives 
and  won  their  fame  in  England.  Sheridan  was  a  man  of  double,  or 
triple,  powers ;  the  greatest  of  modern  English  dramatists ;  a  wit  of 
the  first  water ;  and  an  orator  of  striking  ability.  Studying  in  Dublin 
and  at  Harrow,  he  wasted  his  time  in  indolence,  and  left  school  with 
the  reputation  of  ''  an  impenetrable  dunce."  There  never  was 
greater  mistake.  He  might  have  graduated  with  a  splendid  record,' 
if  he  had  chosen  to  study. 

Sheridan  first  showed  his  powers  in  the  drama.  The  "  Rivals/j 
first  played  in  1775,  soon  became  very  popular.  The  *'  Duenna  "  met 
with  brilliant  success,  and  the  "  School  for  Scandal "  established  his 
reputation  as  a  dramatic  genius  of  the  highest  order.  It  also  showed 
his  great  powers  as  a  wit,  it  scintillating  with  witty  sayings  from  end 
to  end.  His  reputation  made  in  the  drama,  in  1780  Sheridan  entered 
Parliament,  where  he  was  destined  to  make  his  mark  brilliantly  in 
oratory.  It  was  especially  in  the  trial  of  Warren  Hastings,  in  which 
Sheridan,  Burke,  Fox  and  others  represented  the  House  of  Commons 
before  the  House  of  Lords,  sitting  as  a  court  of  impeachment,  that  he 
established  his  fame,  his  Begum  speech  creating  an  extraordinary 
sensation  at  the  time,  and  being  still  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
splendid  examples  of  eloquence  extant. 


THE  ARRAIGNMENT  OF  WARREN  HASTINGS 

[Sheridan   made  two  famous  speeches   in  the  Hastings  trial.     The  follow 
extract  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  his  powers.     It  is  a  fine  example  of  ironical  ora 
ending  with  an  earnest  appeal  to  the  principles  of  honor  and  virtue.] 
496 


wi^« 


RICHARD  BRINSLEY   SHERIDAN  497 

I  trust  your  Lordships  will  not  believe  that,  because  something  is 
necessary  to  retrieve  the  British  character,  we  call  for  an  example  to  be 
made  without  due  and  solid  proof  of  the  guilt  of  the  person  whom  we 
pursue  : — no,  my  Lords,  we  know  well  that  it  is  the  glory  of  this  Consti- 
tution, that  not  the  general  fame  or  character  of  any  man  ;  not  the  weight 
or  power  of  any  prosecutor  ;  no  plea  of  moral  or  political  expediency ; 
not  even  the  secret  consciousness  of  guilt  which  may  live  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Judge  ;  can  justify  any  British  court  in  passing  any  sentence  to  touch 
a  hair  of  the  head,  or  an  atom,  in  any  respect,  of  the  property,  of  the  fame, 
of  the  liberty  of  the  poorest  or  meanest  subject  that  breathes  the  air  of 
this  just  and  free  land.  We  know,  my  Lords,  that  there  can  be  no  legal 
guilt  without  legal  proof,  and  that  the  rule  which  defines  the  evidence  is 
as  much  the  law  of  the  land  as  that  which  creates  the  crime.  It  is  upon 
that  ground  we  mean  to  stand. 

Major  Scott  comes  to  your  Bar  ;  describes  the  shortness  of  time ;  repre- 
sents Mr.  Hastings  as  it  were  contracting  for  a  character,  putting  his 
memory  into  commission,  making  departments  for  his  conscience.  A 
number  of  friends  meet  together,  and  he,  knowing  (no  doubt)  that  the 
accusation  of  the  Commons  had  been  drawn  up  by  a  Committee,  thought 
it  necessary,  as  a  point  of  punctilio,  to  answer  it  by  a  Committee  also. 
One  furnishes  the  raw  material  of  fact,  the  second  spins  the  argument, 
and  the  third  twines  up  the  conclusion,  while  Mr.  Hastings,  with  a  mas- 
ter's eye,  is  cheering  and  looking  over  this  loom.  He  says  to  one,  "  You 
have  got  my  good  faith  in  your  hands ;  you,  my  veracity  to  manage. 
Mr.  Shore,  I  hope  you  will  make  me  a  good  financier.  Mr.  Middleton, 
you  have  my  humanity  in  commission.' '  When  it  is  done,  he  brings  it  to 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  says,  "  I  was  equal  to  the  task.  I  knew 
the  difl&culties,  but  I  scorn  them  ;  here  is  the  truth,  and  if  the  truth  will 
convict  me,  I  am  content  myself  to  be  the  channel  of  it !  "  His  friends 
hold  up  their  heads,  and  say,  *'  What  noble  magnanimity  !  This  must 
be  the  effect  of  conscious  and  real  innocence."  Well,  it  is  so  received, 
it  is  so  argued  upon  ;  but  it  fails  of  its  effect. 

Then  says  Mr.  Hastings  :  "  That  my  defence  !  no,  mere  journeyman 
work — good  enough  for  the  Commons,  but  not  fit  for  your  Lordships' 
consideration."  He  then  calls  upon  his  counsel  to  save  him:  "  I  fear 
none  of  my  accusers'  witnesses.  I  know  some  of  them  well ;  I  know  the 
weakness  of  their  memory,  and  the  strength  of  their  attachment ;  I  fear 
no  testimony  but  my  own — save  me  from  the  peril  of  my  own  panegyric; 
preserve  me  from  that,  and  I  shall  be  safe."  Then  is  this  plea  brought 
to  your  Lordships'  Bar,  and  Major  Scott  gravely  asserts  that  Mr.  Hast- 
ings did,  at  the  Bar  of  the  House  of  Commons,  vouch  for  facts  of  which 
he  was  ignorant,  and  for  arguments  of  which  he  had  never  read. 
82 


498  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN 

After  such  an  attempt,  we  certainly  are  left  in  doubt  to  decide  to 
which  set  of  his  friends  Mr.  Hastings  is  the  least  obliged,  those  who  assisted 
him  in  making  his  defence,  or  those  who  advised  him  to  deny  it. 

I  am  perfectly  convinced  that  there  is  one  idea  which  must  arise  in 
your  Lordships'  minds  as  a  subject  of  wonder  :  how  a  person  of  Mr.  Hast- 
(ings'  reputed  abilities  can  furnish  such  matter  of  accusation  against  him- 
self. He  knows  that  truth  must  convict  him,  and  concludes  a  co7iverso, 
that  falsehood  will  acquit  him  ;  forgetting  that  there  must  be  some  connec- 
tion, some  system,  some  co-operation,  or,  otherwise,  his  host  of  falsities 
fall  without  an  enemy,  self-discomfited  and  destroyed.  But  of  this  he  I 
never  seems  to  have  had  the  slightest  apprehension.  He  falls  to  work,  an 
artificer  of  fraud,  against  all  the  rules  of  architecture  ;  he  lays  his  orna- 
mental work  first,  and  his  massy  foundation  at  the  top  of  it ;  and  thus  his 
whole  building  tumbles  upon  his  head.  Other  people  look  well  to  their 
ground,  choose  their  position,  and  watch  whether  they  are  likely  to  be 
surprised  there  ;  but  he,  as  if  in  the  ostentation  of  his  heart,  builds  upon 
a  precipice,  and  encamps  upon  a  mine,  from  choice.  He  seems  to  have 
no  one  actuating  principle,  but  a  steady,  persevering  resolution  not  to 
speak  the  truth  or  to  tell  the  fact. 

It  is  impossible,  almost,  to  treat  conduct  of  this  kind  with  perfect 
seriousness  ;  yet  I  am  aware  that  it  ought  to  be  more  seriously  accounted 
for ;  because  I  am  sure  it  has  been  a  sort  of  paradox,  which  must  have 
struck  your  Lordships,  how  any  person  having  so  many  motives  to  con- 
ceal ;  having  so  many  reasons  to  dread  detection  ;  should  yet  go  to  work  so 
clumsily  upon  the  subject.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  it  may  raise  this 
doubt,  whether  such  a  person  is  of  sound  mind  enough  to  be  a  proper 
object  of  punishment ;  or  at  least  it  may  give  a  kind  of  confused  notion 
that  the  guilt  cannot  be  of  so  deep  and  black  a  grain,  over  which  such  a 
thin  veil  was  thrown,  and  so  little  trouble  taken  to  avoid  detection.  I 
am  aware  that,  to  account  for  this  seeming  paradox,  historians,  poets,  and 
even  philosophers — at  least  of  ancient  times — have  adopted  the  supersti- 
tious solution  of  the  vulgar,  and  said  that  the  gods  deprive  men  of  reason 
whom  they  devote  to  destruction  or  to  punishment.  But  to  unassuming 
or  unprejudiced  reason  there  is  no  need  to  resort  to  any  supposed  super- 
natural interference ;  for  the  solution  will  be  found  in  the  eternal  rules 
that  formed  the  mind  of  man,  and  gave  a  quality  and  nature  to  every 
passion  that  inhabits  it. 

An  honorable  friend  of  mine,  who  is  now,  I  believe,  near  me,  has 
told  you  that  Prudence,  the  first  of  virtues,  never  can  be  used  in  the  cause 
of  vice.  But  I  should  doubt  whether  we  can  read  the  history  of  a  Philip 
of  Macedon,  a  Caesar,  or  a  Cromwell,  without  confessing  that  there  have 


I 


li 


RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN  499 

been  evil  purposes,  baneful  to  the  peace  and  to  the  rights  of  men,  con- 
ducted— if  I  may  not  say,  with  prudence  or  with  wisdom — yet  with  awful 
craft  and  most  successful  and  commanding  subtlety.  If,  however,  I 
might  make  a  distinction,  I  should  say  that  it  is  the  proud  attempt  to 
mix  a  variety  of  lordly  crimes  that  unsettles  the  prudence  of  the  mind  and 
breeds  this  distraction  of  the  brain.  One  master-passion,  domineering  in 
the  breast,  may  win  the  faculties  of  the  understanding  to  advance  its 
purpose,  and  to  direct  to  that  object  everything  that  thought  or  human 
knowledge  can  effect ;  but,  to  succeed,  it  must  maintain  a  solitary  despot- 
ism in  the  mind — each  rival  profligacy  must  stand  aloof,  or  wait  in  abject 
vassalage  upon  its  throne.  For  the  Power  that  has  not  forbade  the 
entrance  of  evil  passions  into  man's  mind,  has,  at  least,  forbade  their 
union; — if  they  meet  they  defeat  their  object;  and  their  conquest,  or 
their  attempt  at  it,  is  tumult.  To  turn  to  the  Virtues — how  different  the 
decree  !  Formed  to  connect,  to  blend,  to  associate,  and  to  co-operate  ; 
bearing  the  same  course,  with  kindred  energies  and  harmonious  sympathy; 
each  perfect  in  its  own  lovely  sphere  ;  each  moving  in  its  wider  or  more 
contracted  orbit  with  different,  but  concentering  powers  ;  guided  by  the 
same  influence  of  reason,  and  endeavoring  at  the  same  blessed  end — the 
happiness  of  the  individual,  the  harmony  of  the  species,  and  the  glory  of 
the  Creator.  In  the  Vices,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  discord  that  insures 
the  defeat ;  each  clamorous  to  be  heard  in  its  own  barbarous  language ; 
each  claims  the  exclusive  cunning  of  the  brain  ;  each  thwarts  and 
reproaches  the  other  ;  and  even  while  their  full  rage  assails  with  common 
hate  the  peace  and  virtue  of  the  world,  the  civil  war  among  their  own 
tumultuous  legions  defeats  the  purpose  of  the  foul  conspiracy.  These  are 
the  Furies  of  the  mind,  my  L,ords,  that  unsettle  the  understanding  ;  these 
are  the  Furies  that  destroy  the  virtue.  Prudence ;  while  the  distracted 
brain  and  shivered  intellect  proclaim  the  tumult  that  is  within,  and  bear 
their  testimonies,  from  the  mouth  of  God  himself,  to  the  foul  condition  of 
the  heart. 


WILLIAM  WILBERFORCE  (17594833) 

THE  SLAVE'S  ELOQUENT  ADVOCATE 


OF  William  Wilberforce  it  has  been  said  :  **  With  talents  of  the 
highest  order,  and  eloquence  surpassed  by  few,  he  entered  upon 
'  public  life  possessed  of  the  best  personal  connections  in  his 
intimate  friendship  with  Mr.  Pitt."  Entering  Parliament  in  1780,  his 
first  movement  toward  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade  was  taken  in 
1787,  in  conjunction  with  Thomas  Clarkson  and  several  others.  From 
that  time  forward  the  abolition  of  slavery  was  the  great  object  in  Wil- 
berforce's  life.  His  bills  defeated  again  and  again,  and  bitter  opposi- 
tion to  his  purpose  shown,  he  unyieldingly  persisted,  and  at  length, 
in  1807,  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  bill  passed  in  the  House  of 
Commons  with  a  great  majority.  He  had  gradually  educated  the 
House  and  the  nation  to  that  point.  About  1818  he  began  to  agitate 
for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  the  British  West  Indies.  This 
he  followed  up  in  his  old,  inflexible  manner,  till  the  day  of  his  death, 
his  bill  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  passing  its  second  reading  only 
three  days  before  the  demise  of  its  great  projector. 


ABOLITION  OF  THE  SLAVE-TRADE 


I 


[From  one  of  Wilberforce 's  many  speeches  on  the  subject  of  his  most  earnest 
attention,  we  select  a  brief  passage  in  illustration  of  his  style  of  oratory  and  the  char- 
acter of  his  appeals  to  his  fellow-members.] 

I  cannot  but  persuade  myself  that,  whatever  difference  of  opinion 
there  may  have  been,  we  shall  this  day  be  at  length  unanimous.  I  can- 
not believe  that  a  British  House  of  Commons  will  give  its  sanction  to  the 
continuance  of  this  infernal  traffic,  the  African  slave-trade.  We  were  for 
a  while  ignorant  of  its  real  nature ;  but  it  has  now  been  complet 
developed,  and  laid  open  to  view  in  all  its  horrors.  Never  was  th 
500 


ifor 

1 


ROBERT  PEEL 

England's  greatest  orator  of  the  first  half  of  the  igth  Century, 
and  very  popular  on  account  of  his  great  opposition  to  the 
"  Corn  Laws"  by  which  the  poor  were  oppressed. 


WILLIAM  WILBERFORCE  501 

indeed,  a  system  so  big  with  wickedness  and  cruelty ;  it  attains  to  the 
fullest  measure  of  pure,  unmixed,  unsophisticated  wickedness  ;  and,  scorn- 
ing all  competition  and  comparison,  it  stands  without  a  rival  in  the  secure, 
undisputed  possession  of  its  detestable  pre-eminence. 

But  I  rejoice,  sir,  to  see  that  the  people  of  Great  Britain  have  stepped 
forward  on  this  occasion  and  expressed  their  sense  more  generally  and 
unequivocally  than  in  any  instance  wherein  they  have  ever  before  interfered. 
I  should  in  vain  attempt  to  express  to  you  the  satisfaction  with  which  it  has 
filled  my  mind  to  see  so  great  and  glorious  a  concurrence,  to  see  this  great 
cause  triumphing  over  all  lesser  distinctions,  and  substituting  cordiality 
and  harmony  in  the  place  of  distrust  and  opposition.  Nor  have  its  effects 
amongst  ourselves  been  in  this  respect  less  distinguished  or  less  honor- 
able. It  has  raised  the  character  of  Parliament.  Whatever  may  have, 
been  thought  or  said  concerning  the  unrestrained  prevalency  of  our  politi- 
cal divisions,  it  has  taught  surrounding  nations,  it  has  taught  our  admir- 
ing country,  that  there  are  subjects  still  beyond  the  reach  of  party.  There 
is  a  point  of  elevation  where  we  get  above  the  jarring  of  the  discordant 
elements  that  ruffle  and  agitate  the  vale  below.  In  our  ordinary  atmos- 
phere, clouds  and  vapors  obscure  the  air,  and  we  are  the  sport  of  a  thou- 
sand conflicting  winds  and  adverse  currents  ;  but  here  we  move  in  a 
higher  region,  where  all  is  pure,  and  clear,  and  serene,  free  from  perturba- 
tion and  discomposure — 

"As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  form. 
Swells  from  the  vale  and  midway  leaves  the  storm  ; 
Tho'  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head. ' ' 

Here,  then,  on  this  august  eminence,  let  us  build  the  temple  of 
benevolence;  let  us  lay  its  foundation  deep  in  truth  and  justice,  and  let 
the  inscription  on  its  gates  be,  ''Peace  and  good- will  towards  men." 
Here  let  us  offer  the  first-fruits  of  our  prosperity  ;  here  let  us  devote  our- 
selves to  the  service  of  these  wretched  men,  and  go  forth  burning  with  a 
generous  ardor  to  compensate,  if  possible,  for  the  injuries  we  have  hitherto 
brought  on  them.  I,et  us  heal  the  breaches  we  have  made.  I^et  us 
rejoice  in  becoming  the  happy  instruments  of  arresting  the  progress  of 
rapine  and  desolation,  and  of  introducing  into  that  immense  country  the 
blessings  of  Christianity,  the  comforts  of  civilized,  the  sweets  of  social  life. 
I  am  persuaded,  sir,  there  is  no  man  who  hears  me,  who  wou  d  not  join 
with  me  in  hailing  the  arrival  of  this  happy  period ;  who  does  not  feel  his 
mind  cheered  and  solaced  by  the  contemplation  of  those  delightful  scenes » 


WILLIAM  PITT  (1 759-1 806) 

NAPOLEON'S  GREAT  ADVERSARY 


mN  'William  Pitt,  the  younger,  we  possess  an  example  of  which 
there  are  few  instances  in  history,  that  of  a  great  orator  inherit- 
ing his  power  from  a  father  famous  in  the  same  field.  The 
fame  of  the  younger  Pitt  equals,  though  it  does  not  eclipse,  that  of 
his  father,  the  celebrated  Lord  Chatham.  They  could,  indeed,  scarcely 
be  spoken  of  as  rivals,  their  style  of  oratory  being  radically  different. 
**  Viewing  the  forms  of  the  two  Pitts,  father  and  son,^'  says  a  bio- 
graphical writer,  "  as  they  stand  in  history,  what  different  emotions 
their  images  call  forth  !  The  impassioned  and  romantic  father  seems 
like  a  hero  of  chivalry  ;  the  stately  and  classical  son,  as  a  Roman 
dictator,  compelled  into  the  dimensions  of  an  English  minister." 
Brougham  ranks  the  younger  Pitt  with  the  world's  great  orators, 
crediting  him,  while  possessing  little  ornament  in  rhetoric,  variety  in 
style  or  grace  in  manner,  with  unbroken  fluency  and  fine  declama- 
tion, by  which  he  was  able  to  seize  and  hold  the  attention  of  his 
audience  till  he  chose  to  let  it  go.  He  is  admitted  to  have  been  a 
consummate  debater,  and  almost  unequaled  in  sarcasm,  yet,  as 
Brougham  says,  ''  The  last  effect  of  the  highest  eloquence  was  for  the 
most  part  wanting;  we  seldom  forgot  the  speaker  or  lost  the  artist  in. 
his  work.^' 

THE  PERIL  FROM  FRANCE 


I 


i 


[The  occasion  which  called  forth  the  oratory  of  the  younger  Pitt  was  the 
excesses  of  the  French  Revolution,  with  the  military  triumphs  of  Napoleon  that  fol- 
lowed, and  his  strong  and  often  unscrupulous  measures  for  weakening  the  opposition 
of  the  hostile  States.  Against  this  Pitt  fought  with  all  his  strength  while  his  life 
lasted.  The  example  of  his  oratory  given  is  from  his  speech  of  June  7,  1799,  on  the 
question  of  granting  a  subsidy  to  the  Russian  army,  ' '  for  the  deliverance  of 
Evirope."] 

602 


i 


WILLIAM  PITT  603 

The  honorable  gentleman  says  he  wishes  for  peace,  and  that  he 
approved  more  of  what  I  said  on  this  subject  towards  the  close  of  my 
speech,  than  of  the  opening »  Now  what  I  said  was  that,  if  by  power- 
fully seconding  the  efforts  of  our  allies,  we  could  only  look  for  peace  with 
any  prospect  of  realizing  our  hopes,  whatever  would  enable  us  to  do  so 
promptly  and  effectually  would  be  true  economy.  I  must,  indeed,  be 
much  misunderstood,  if  generally  it  was  not  perceived  that  I  meant  that 
whether  the  period  which  is  to  carry  us  to  peace  be  shorter  or  longer,  what 
we  have  to  look  to  is  not  so  much  when  we  shall  make  peace,  as  whether 
we  shall  derive  from  it  complete  and  solid  security ;  and  that  whatever 
other  nations  may  do,  whether  they  shall  persevere  in  the  contest,  or 
untimely  abandon  it,  we  have  to  look  to  ourselves  for  the  means  of 
defence  ;  we  are  to  look  to  the  means  to  secure  our  Constitution,  preserve 
our  character,  and  maintain  our  independence,  in  the  virtue  and  persever- 
ance of  the  people. 

There  is  a  high-spirited  pride,  an  elevated  loyalty,  a  generous  warmth 
of  heart,  a  nobleness  of  spirit,  a  hearty,  manly  gaiety,  which  distinguish 
our  nation,  in  which  we  are  to  look  for  the  best  pledges  of  general  safety, 
and  of  that  security  against  an  aggressing  usurpation,  which  other  nations 
in  their  weakness  or  in  their  folly  have  yet  nowhere  found.  With  respect 
to  that  which  appears  so  much  to  embarrass  certain  gentlemen, — the 
deliverance  of  Europe, — I  will  not  say  particularly  what  it  is.  Whether 
it  is  to  be  its  deliverance  under  that  which  it  suffers,  or  that  from  which 
it  is  in  danger  ;  whether  from  the  infection  of  false  principles,  the  corrod- 
ing cares  of  a  period  of  distraction  and  dismay,  or  that  dissolution  of  all 
governments  and  that  death  of  religion  and  social  order  which  are  to 
signalize  the  triumph  of  the  French  republic — if  unfortunately  for  man- 
kind she  should,  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  prevail  in  the  contest ; — from 
whichsoever  of  these  Kurope  is  to  be  delivered,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to 
prove  that  what  she  suffers  and  what  is  her  danger  are  the  power  and 
existence  of  the  French  Government.  If  any  man  says  that  the  Govern- 
ment is  not  a  tyranny,  he  miserably  mistakes  the  character  of  that  body. 
It  is  an  insupportable  and  odious  tyranny,  holding  within  its  grasp  the 
lives,  the  characters,  and  the  fortunes  of  all  who  are  forced  to  own  its 
sway ,  and  only  holding  these  that  it  may  at  will  measure  out  to  each  the 
portion  which  from  time  to  time  it  sacrifices  to  its  avarice,  its  cruelty,  and 
injustice.  The  French  Republic  is  diked  and  fenced  round  with  crime, 
and  owes  much  of  its  present  security  to  its  being  regarded  with  a  horror 
which  appals  men  in  their  approaches  to  its  impious   battlements.  .    . 

In  the  application  of  this  principle  I  have  no  doubt  but  the  hon- 
<  lable  gentleman  admits  the  security  of  the  country  to  be  the  legitimate 


604  WILLIAM  PITT 

object  of  the  contest ;  and  I  must  think  I  am  sufficiently  intelligible  on 
this  topic.  But,  wishing  to  be  fully  understood,  I  answer  the  honorable 
gentleman  when  he  asks  :  '  *  Does  the  right  honorable  gentleman  mean  to 
prosecute  the  war  until  the  French  Republic  is  overthrown  ?  Is  it  his 
determination  not  to  treat  with  France  while  it  continues  a  republic  ?  "  I 
answer  :  I  do  not  confine  my  views  to  the  territorial  limits  of  France  ;  I 
contemplate  the  principles,  character,  and  conduct  of  France  ;  I  consider 
what  these  are  ;  I  see  in  them  the  issues  of  distraction,  of  infamy  and 
ruin,  to  every  State  in  her  alliance ;  and,  therefore,  I  say  that  until  the 
aspect  of  that  mighty  mass  of  iniquity  and  folly  is  entirely  changed  ;  until 
the  character  of  the  Government  is  totally  reversed  ;  until,  by  common 
consent  of  the  general  voice  of  all  men,  I  can  with  truth  tell  Parliament, 
France  is  no  longer  terrible  for  her  contempt  of  the  rights  of  every  other 
nation  ;  she  no  longer  avows  schemes  of  universal  empire ;  she  has  set- 
tled into  a  state  whose  government  can  maintain  those  relations  in  their 
integrity,  in  which  alone  civilized  communities  are  to  find  their  security, 
and  from  which  they  are  to  derive  their  distinction  and  their  glory, — until 
in  the  situation  of  France  we  have  exhibited  to  us  those  features  of  a  wise, 
a  just,  and  a  liberal  policy,  I  cannot  treat  with  her. 

The  time  to  come  to  the  discussion  of  a  peace  can  only  be  the  time 
when  you  can  look  with  confidence  to  an  honorable  issue  ;  to  such  a  peac 
as  shall  at  once  restore  to  Europe  her  settled  and  balanced  constitution  o 
general  polity,  and  to  every  negotiating  power  in  particular  that  weight  in 
the  scale  of  general  empire  which  has  ever  been  found  the  best  guarantee 
and  pledge  of  local,  independence  and  general  security.  St^ch  are  my 
sentiments.  I  am  not  afraid  to  avow  them.  I  commit  them  to  the 
thinking  part  of  mankind,  and  if  they  have  not  been  poisoned  by  th« 
stream  of  French  sophistry,  and  prejudiced  by  her  falsehood,  I  am  sure 
they  will  approve  of  the  determination  I  have  avowed  for  those  grave 
and  mature  reasons  on  which  I  found  it.  I  earnestly  pray  that  all  thejl 
Powers  engaged  in  the  contest  may  think  as  I  do,  and  particularly  the 
Kmperor  of  Russia,  which,  indeed,  I  do  not  doubt ;  and,  therefore,  I  do 
contend  that  with  that  Power  it  is  fit  that  the  House  should  enter  into 
the  engagement  recommended  in  his  Majesty's  message. 


f 


ROBERT    EMMET    (J 780-1 803) 

THE  ELOQUENT  MARTYR  TO  IRISH  LIBERTY 


|OBERT  EMMET,  as  an  orator,  was  practically  ''a  man  of  one 
speech/'  but  that  was  a  great  speech,  an  extraordinary  effort 
for  a  man  of  only  twenty-three  years  of  age.  He  was  fighting 
for  his  life  and  his  country,  two  causes  abundantly  well  calculated  to 
rouse  a  man  to  the  supreme  exercise  of  his  faculties,  and  as  a  master- 
piece of  extemporaneous  eloquence  this  impassioned  speech  has  no 
superior  in  any  language.  Emmets  was  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
''  United  Irishmen.'^  Inspired  by  the  misguided  fervor  of  youth,  he 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  the  rabble  of  Dublin,  who  killed 
a  number  of  people,  including  the  Chief  Justice.  The  party  was 
quickly  dispersed,  and  Emmet.- — who  missed  the  opportunity  to 
escape  by  lingering  to  bid  farewell  to  his  lady-love,  a  daughter  of 
Curran,  the  orator — was  arrested,  put  on  trial,  found  guilty  of  high 
treason,  and  executed  the  next  day. 

A  PATRIOT'S  PLEA 

[After  the  verdict  of  guilty  was  rendered,  Emmei  was  asked,  in  the  usual 
fomi,  "  What  have  you,  therefore,  now  to  say,  why  judgment  of  death  and  execution 
should  not  be  awarded  against  you  according  to  law?"  He  rose  and  delivered  an 
extended  address  to  the  Court,  interrupted  at  intervals  by  Lord  Norbury,  chief 
among  his  judges,  who  permitted  himself  to  be  incensed  by  the  condemned  man's 
remarks.     From  this  death  plea  we  select  some  of  the  more  thrilling  passages.] 

What  have  I  to  say,  why  sentence  of  death  should  not  be  pronounced 
on  me,  according  to  law  ?  I  have  nothing  to  say  which  can  alter  your 
"1  predetermination,  or  that  it  would  become  me  to  say  with  any  view  to  the 
mitigation  of  that  sentence  which  you  are  here  to  pronounce,  and  which  I 
must  abide.  But  I  have  that  to  say  which  interests  me  more  than  life, 
and  which  you  have  labored — as  was  necessarily  your  office  in  the  present 

605 


506  ROBERT  EMMET 

circumstances  of  this  oppressed  country — to  destroy.  I  have  much  to 
say,  why  my  reputation  should  be  rescued  from  the  load  of  false  accusa- 
tion and  calumny  which  has  been  heaped  upon  it.  I  do  not  imagine  that, 
seated  where  you  are,  your  minds  can  be  so  free  from  impurity  as  to 
receive  the  least  impression  from  what  I  am  going  to  utter.  I  have  no 
hope  that  I  can  anchor  my  character  in  the  breast  of  a  Court  constituted 
and  trammelled  as  this  is.  I  only  wish,  and  it  is  the  utmost  I  expect, 
that  your  Lordships  may  suffer  it  to  float  down  your  memories,  untainted 
by  the  foul  breath  of  prejudice,  until  it  finds  some  more  hospitable  harbor, 
to  shelter  it  from  the  rude  storm  by  which  it  is  at  present  buffeted. 

Were  I  only  to  suffer  death,  after  being  adjudged  guilty  by  your  tri- 
bunal, I  should  bow  in  silence,  and  meet  the  fate  that  awaits  me  without 
a  murmur.  But  the  sentence  of  the  law  which  delivers  my  body  to  the 
executioner  will,  through  the  ministry  of  that  law,  labor,  in  its  own  vin- 
dication, to  consign  my  character  to  obloquy  :  for  there  must  be  guilt 
somewhere, — whether  in  the  sentence  of  the  Court,  or  in  the  catastrophe, 
posterity  must  determine.  A  man  in  my  situation,  my  Lords,  has  not 
only  to  encounter  the  difficulties  of  fortune,  and  the  force  of  power  over 
minds  which  it  has  corrupted  or  subjugated,  but  the  diflSculties  of  estab- 
lished prejudice.  The  man  dies,  but  his  memory  lives.  That  mine  may 
not  perish,  that  it  may  live  in  the  respect  of  my  countrymen,  I  seize  upon 
this  opportunity  to  vindicate  myself  from  some  of  the  charges  alleged 
against  me.  When  my  spirit  shall  be  wafted  to  a  more  friendly  port  ; 
when  my  shade  shall  have  joined  the  bands  or  those  martyred  heroes  who 
have  shed  their  blood,  on  the  scaffold  and  in  the  field,  in  defence  of  their 
country  and  of  virtue  ;  this  is  my  hope  :  I  wish  that  my  memory  and 
name  may  animate  those  who  survive  me,  while  I  look  down  with  com- 
placency on  the  destruction  of  that  perfidious  Government  which  upholds 
its  dominion  by  blasphemy  of  the  Most  High  ;  which  displays  its  power 
over  man  as  over  the  beasts  of  the  forest  ;  which  sets  man  upon  his 
brother,  and  lifts  his  hand,  in  the  name  of  God,  against  the  throat  of  his 
fellow,  who  believes  or  doubts  a  little  more,  or  a  little  less,  than  the  Gov- 
ernment standard, — a  Government  which  is  steeled  to  barbarity  by  the 
cries  of  the  orphans  and  the  tears  of  the  widows  which  it  has  made. 

I  appeal  to  the  immaculate  God, — to  the  throne  of  Heaven,  before 
which  I  must  shortly  appear, — to  the  blood  of  the  murdered  patriots  who 
have  gone  before, — that  my  conduct  has  been,  through  all  this  peril,  and 
through  all  my  purposes,  governed  only  by  the  convictions  which  I  have 
uttered,  and  by  no  other  view  than  that  of  the  emancipation  of  my  country 
from  the  superinhuman  oppression  under  which  she  has  so  long  and  too 
patiently  travailed  ;    and  that  I  confidently  and  assuredly  hope  that,  wild 


I 


ROBERT  EMMET  507 

and  chimerical  as  it  may  appear,  there  is  still  union  and  strength  in  Ireland 
to  accomplish  this  noblest  enterprise.  Of  this  I  speak  with  the  confidence 
of  intimate  knowledge,  and  with  the  consolation  that  appertains  to  that 
confidence.  Think  not,  my  Lords,  I  say  this  for  the  petty  gratification  of 
giving  you  a  transitory  uneasiness  ;  a  man  who  never  yet  raised  his  voice 
to  assert  a  lie  will  not  hazard  his  character  with  posterity  by  asserting  a 
falsehood  on  a  subject  so  important  to  his  country,  and  on  an  occasion  like 
this.  Yes,  my  Lords ;  a  man  who  does  not  wish  to  have  his  epitaph 
written  until  his  country  is  liberated  will  not  leave  a  weapon  in  the  power 
of  envy,  nor  a  pretence  to  impeach  the  probity  which  he  means  to  preserve 
even  in  the  grave  to  which  tyranny  consigns  him. 

[In  the  succeeding  part  of  his  speech  Emmet'  \vas  severe  in  his  arraignment  of 
the  British  Government,  and  was  frequently  interrupted  by  Lord  Norbury,  whose 
remarks  he  answered  with  fervent  indignation.  He  concluded  with  the  following 
words :] 

I  have  been  charged  with  that  importance,  in  the  efforts  to  emancipate 
my  country,  as  to  be  considered  the  keystone  of  the  combination  of 
Irishmen,  or,  as  your  Lordship  expressed  it,  "  the  life  and  blood  of  the 
conspiracy."  You  do  me  honor  overmuch.  You  have  given  to  the 
subaltern  all  the  credit  of  a  superior.  There  are  men  engaged  in  this  con- 
spiracy who  are  not  only  superior  to  me,  but  even  to  your  own  concep- 
tions of  yourself,  my  Lord  ; — men,  before  the  splendor  of  whose  genius 
and  virtues  I  should  bow  with  respectful  deference,  and  who  would  think 
themselves  dishonored  to  be  called  your  friends, — who  would  not  dis- 
grace themselves  by  shaking  your  blood  stained  hand  ! 

[This  so  exasperated  Lord  Norbury  that  he  attempted  to  stop  the  speaker,  but 
the  enthusiasm  was  so  great  that  he  dared  not  insist,  and  Emmet  proceeded,  shaking 
his  finger  at  Lord  Norbury.] 

What,  my  Lord,  shall  you  tell  me,  on  the  passage  to  the  scaffold 
which  that  tyranny,  of  which  you  are  only  the  intermediate  minister,  has 
erected  for  my  murder,  that  I  am  accountable  for  all  the  blood  that  has 
been  and  will  be  shed,  in  this  struggle  of  the  oppressed  against  the 
oppressor  ?  Shall  you  tell  me  this,  and  must  I  be  so  very  a  slave  as  not 
to  repeat  it  ?  I,  who  fear  not  to  approach  the  Omnipotent  Judge  to 
answer  for  the  conduct  of  my  short  life, — am  I  to  be  appalled  here,  before 
a  mere  remnant  of  mortality  ? — by  you,  too,  who,  if  it  were  possible  to  col- 
lect all  the  innocent  blood  that  you  have  caused  to  be  shed,  in  your  unhal- 
lowed ministry,  in  one  great  reservoir,  your  Lordship  might  swim  in  it ! 

[This  invective  was  so  severe  that  the  judge  interfered,  insisting  that  Emmet 
be  less  personal.  After  a  moment's  pause  the  speaker  composed  himself  and  proceeded 
38  follows :] 


>r 

I 


508  ROBERT  EMMET 

Let  no  man  dare,  when  I  am  dead,  to  charge  me  with  dishonor.  Let 
no  man  attaint  my  memory  by  believing  that  I  could  have  engaged  in  any 
cause  but  that  of  my  country's  liberty  and  independence,  or  that  I  could 
have  become  the  pliant  minion  of  power  in  the  oppression  and  the  miseries 
of  my  countrymen.  The  proclamation  of  the  Provisional  Government 
speaks  for  my  views.  No  inference  can  be  tortured  from  it  to  counten- 
ance barbarity  or  debasement  at  home,  or  subjection,  humiliation  or 
treachery  from  abroad.  I  would  not  have  submitted  to  a  foreign 
oppressor,  for  the  same  reason  that  I  would  resist  the  domestic  tyrant. 
In  the  dignity  of  freedom  I  would  have  fought  upon  the  threshol 
of  my  country,  and  its  enemy  should  enter  only  by  ["passing  over  m 
lifeless  corpse.  And  am  I,  who  lived  but  for  my  country — who  have  sub 
jected  myself  to  the  dangers  of  the  jealous  and  watchful  oppressor,  and 
now  to  the  bondage  of  the  grave,"  only  to  give  my  countrymen  their  rights, 
and  my  country  her  independence, — am  I  to  be  loaded  with  calumny,  and 
not  suffered  to  resent  it  ?     No.     God  forbid  ! 

[At  this  point  Lord  Norbury  told  Emmet  that  his  principles  were  treasonable, 
that  his  father  would  not  have  countenanced  such  sentiments,  that  his  language  was 
unbecoming,  to  which  Emmet  replied  with  feeling  :] 

If  the  spirits  of  the  illuGtrious  dead  participate  in  the  concerns  and 
cares  of  those  who  were  dear  to  them  in  this  transitory  life,  O,  ever  dear 
and  venerated  shade  of  my  departed  father,  look  down  with  scrutiny  upon 
the  conduct  of  your  suffering  son,  and  see  if  I  have,  even  for  a  moment, 
deviated  from  those  principles  of  morality  and  patriotism  which  it  was  . 
your  care  to  instill  into  my  youthful  mind,  and  for  which  I  am  now  to  i 
offer  up  my  life  !  ' 

My  Lords,  you  seem  impatient  for  the  sacrifice.  The  blood  for 
which  you  thirst  is  not  congealed  by  the  artificial  terrors  which  surround 
your  victim  ; — it  circulates,  warmly  and  unruffled,  through  the  channels 
which  God  created  for  nobler  purposes,  but  which  you  are  bent  to  destroy, 
for  purposes  so  grievous  that  they  cry  to  Heaven.  Be  ye  patient !  I 
have  but  a  few  words  more  to  say.  I  am  going  to  my  cold  and  silent 
grave.  My  lamp  of  life  is  nearly  extinguished.  My  race  is  run.  The 
grave  opens  to  receive  me, — and  I  sink  into  its  bosom  !  I  have  but  one 
request  to  ask  at  my  departure  from  this  world  ; — it  is  the  charity  of  its 
silence.  Let  no  man  write  my  epitaph  ;  for,  as  no  man  who  knows  my  \ 
motives  dare  now  vindicate  them,  let  not  prejudice  or  ignorance  asperse 
them.  Let  them  and  me  repose  in  obscurity  and  peace,  and  my  tomb 
remain  uninscribed,  until  other  times  and  other  men  can  do  justice  to 
my  character.  When  my  country  takes  her  place  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth, — then,  and  not  till  then,  let  my  epitaph  be  written  !     I  have  done.    I 


BOOK  V^ 

Orators  of  the  Victorian  Reign 

GREATEST  of  all  the  centuries  in  several 
prominent  respects  of  human  progress  was 
the  nineteenth.  Greatest  in  science,  greatest 
in  invention,  greatest  in  industrial  evolution,  it  was, 
while  not  greatest  in  oratory,  a  great  field  for  the 
outpouring  of  eloquence.  And  this  was  coupled 
with  the  fact  that  the  art  of  stenography  had  so 
advanced  that  the  preservation  of  the  spoken  words 
of  the  orator  became  an  easy  feat.  In  former  centu- 
ries only  those  orators  who  carefully  wrote  out  their 
speeches,  and  published  them  as  literature,  could 
count  upon  their  transmission  to  posterity.  The 
impromptu  and  extempore  speaker  could  never  look 
for  a  faithful  preservation  of  his  words.  Much  of 
the  so-called  oratory  which  remains  to  us  from  ancient 
times  consists  of  speeches  written  by  historians  and 
attributed  to  their  leading  characters.  In  some  cases 
these  may  have  closely  reproduced  the  actual 
speeches  ;  in  others  they  were  probably  largely  or 
wholly  imaginary.  The  loss  of  oratory  in  mediaeval 
times  must  have  been  large,  but  the  difficulty  of  pre- 
serving it  had  been  fully  overcome  by  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  there  are  more  speeches  put  upon 
permanent  record  now  in  a  year  than  there  were  in 
centuries  of  the  past.  The  century  in  question  has 
been  prolific  in  British  orators  of  fine  powers,  those 
of  supreme  eloquence  being  fewer,  indeed,  than  those 
of  the  preceding  century,  yet  such  names  as  those 
of  Gladstone,  Bright,  Brougham,  O'  Connelland  some 
others  give  a  high  standing  to  the  oratory  of  the 
Victorian  age. 

509 


GEORGE  CANNING  (J 7704 827) 

A  DISTINGUISHED  ENGLISH  ORATOR  AND  WIT 


QANNING'S  distinction  as  a  wit  was  due  to  his  contributions 
the  '^  Anti- Jacobin/'  a  famous  series  of  political  satires,  issue 
weekly,  which  some  eminent  critics  consider  one  of  the  wittie 
books  in  the  language.  Canning's  best  known  contribution  to  it  is 
"  The  Needy  Knife-grinder,''  one  of  his  happiest  efforts.  As  a  broad- 
minded  legislator  he  is  best  known  through  his  able  administration  of 
the  office  of  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affiiirs,  in  the  Castlereagh  Cabinet, 
from  1822  to  1827.  Under  him  Great  Britain  stood  out  against  the 
"Holy  Alliance"  of  the  despots  of  Europe  and  favored  the  American 
"Monroe  Doctrine'";  the  independence  of  the  South  American 
Republics  was  recognized ;  Catholic  emancipation  was  aided,  and 
other  important  reform  and  diplomatic  movements  were  carried  out. 
Canning,  entering  Parliament  in  1794,  won  a  reputation  in  1798 
by  his  speeches  against  the  slave-trade  and  the  effort  to  make  peace 
with  the  French  Directory.  He  was  an  earnest  supporter  of  Pitt  in 
his  hostility  to  Napoleon,  and  a  member  of  his  cabinet  and  of  the  suc- 
ceeding Portland  cabinet,  in  which  he  planned  the  seizure  of  the 
Danish  fleet,  which  did  so  much  to  check  the  schemes  of  Napoleon. 
His  oratory  was  marked  by  acuteness,  wit  and  picturesque  expression. 
and  as  a  debater  he  was  very  forcible.  1 

IN  REPOSE  YET  IN  READINESS 
[In  Canning's  address  at  Plymouth  in  1823,  when  presented  with  the  freedom 
of  the  town,  occurs  the  happy  comparison  of  a  fleet  at  rest  yet  ready  for  action  to  £ 
nation  in  repose,  which  has  been  admired  as  his  happiest  oratorical  hit.     We  give  thfi' 
part  of  his  speech  which  includes  this  comparison.] 

Our  ultimate  object  must  be  the  peace  of  the  world.     That  objeci 
may  sometimes  be  best  attained  by  prompt  exertions ;  sometimes  by  absti 
nence  from  interposition  in  contests  which  we  cannot  prevent.     It  is  upor 
510 


GEORGE  CANNING  511 

these  principles  that,  as  has  been   most  truly  observed   by  my  worthy 
friend,  it  did  not  appear  to  the  government  of  this  country  to  be  necessary . 
that  Great  Britain  should  mingle  in  the  recent  contest  between   France, 
and  Spain. 

Your  worthy  Recorder  has  accurately  classed  the  persons  who  would 
have  driven  us  into  that  contest »     There  were  undoubtedly  among  them 
those  who  desired  to  plunge  this  country  into  the  difficulties  of  war,  partly 
from  the  hope  that  those  difficulties  would  overwhelm  the  administration  ; 
but  it  would  be  most  unjust  not  to  admit  that  there  were  others  who  were 
actuated  by  nobler  principles  and  more  generous  feelings,  who  would  have 
rushed  forward  at  once  from  the  sense  of  indignation  at  aggression,  and  who 
deemed  that  no  act  of  injustice  could  be  perpetuated  from  one  end  of  the 
universe  to  the  other  but  that  the  sword  of  Great  Britain  should  leap  from 
its  scabbard  to  avenge  it.     But  as  it  is  the  province  of  law  to  control  the 
excess  even  of  laudable  passions  and  propensities  in  individuals,  so  it  is 
the  duty  of  Government  to  restrain  within  due  bounds  the  ebullition  of 
national  sentiment  and  to  regulate  the  course  and  direction  of  impulses 
which  it  cannot  blame.     Is  there  any  one  among  the  latter  class  of  per- 
sons described  by  my  honorable  friend  (for  to  the  former  I  have  nothing 
to  say)  who  continues  to  doubt  whether  the  Government  did  wisely  in 
declining  to  obey  the  precipitate  enthusiasm  which  prevailed  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  contest  in  Spain  ?     Is  there  anybo'dy  who  does  not  now 
think  that  it  was  the  office  of  the  Government  to  examine  more  closely 
all  the  various  bearings  of  so  complicated  a  question  ;  to  consider  whether 
they  were  called  nipon  to  assist  a  united  nation,  or  to  plunge  themselves 
into  the  internal  feuds  by  which  that  nation  was  divided  ;  to  aid  in  repel- 
ling a  foreign  invader,  or  to  take  part  in  a  civil  war  ?     Is  there  any  man 
who  does  not  now  see  what  would    have  been  the  extent  of  burdens  that 
would  have  been  cast  upon  this  country  ?     Is  there  any  one  who  does  not 
acknowledge  that  under  such  circumstances  the  enterprise  would  have 
been  one  to  be  characterized  only  by  a  term  borrowed  from  that  part  of 
.  Ithe  Spanish  literature  with  which  we  are  most  familiar — Quixotic  ;    an 
Ijenterprise  romantic  in  its  origin,  and  thankless  in  the  end  ? 
f\         But  while  we  thus  control  even  our  feelings  by  our  duty,  let  it  not  be 
'  -said  that  we  cultivate  peace  either  because  we  fear,  or  because  we  are 
unprepared  for,  war  ;  on  the  contrary,  if  eight  months  ago  the  Government 
did  not  hesitate  to  proclaim  that  the  country  was  prepared  for  war,  if  war 
should  be  unfortunately  necessary,  every  month  of  peace  that  has  since 
passed  has  but  made  us  so  much  the  more  capable  of  exertion.     The 
'  jresources   created  by   peace   are   means  of  war.      In   cherishing    those 
resources,  we  but  accumulate  those  means.     Our  present  repose  is  no 


512 


GEORGE  CANNING 


more  a  proof  of  inability  to  act,  than  the  state  of  inertness  and  inactivity 
in  which  I  have  seen  those  mighty  masses  that  float  in  the  waters  above 
your  town  is  a  proof  that  they  are  devoid  of  strength  and  incapable  of 
being  fitted  out  for  action.  You  well  know,  gentlemen,  how  soon  one  of 
those  stupendous  masses,  now  reposing  on  their  shadows  in  perfect  still- 
ness,— how  soon,  upon  any  call  of  patriotism  or  of  necessity,  it  would 
assume  the  likeness  of  an  animated  thing,  instinct  with  life  and  motion, — 
how  soon  it  would  ruffle,  as  it  were,  its  swelling  plumage, — how  quickly 
it  would  put  forth  all  its  beauty  and  its  bravery,  collect  its  scattered  ele- 
ments of  strength,  and  awaken  its  dormant  thunder.  Such  as  is  one  of 
these  magnificent  machines  when  springing  from  inaction  into  a  display  of 
its  might,  such  is  England  herself — while  apparently  passive  and  motion- 
less, she  silently  concentrates  the  power  to  be  put  forth  on  an  adequate 
occasion.  But  God  forbid  that  that  occasion  should  arise  !  After  a  war 
sustained  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century — sometimes  single-handed,  and 
with  all  Europe  arrayed  at  times  against  her  or  at  her  side — England 
needs  a  period  of  tranquillity,  and  may  enjoy  it  without  fear  of  miscon- 
struction. Long  may  we  be  enabled,  gentlemen,  to  improve  the  blessings 
of  our  present  situation,  td  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace,  to  give  to  com- 
merce, now  reviving,  greater  extension  and  new  spheres  of  employment, 
and  to  confirm  the  prosperity  now  generally  diff"used  throughout  this 
island.  Of  the  blessing  of  peace,  gentlemen,  I  trust  that  this  borough, 
with  which  I  have  now  the  honor  and  happiness  of  being  associated,  will 
receive  an  ample  share.  I  trust  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  that, 
noble  structure  of  which,  as  I  learn  from  your  Recorder,  the  box  witl 
which  you  have  honored  me,  through  his  hands,  formed  a  part,  thai 
gigantic  barrier  against  the  fury  of  the  waves  that  roll  into  your  harbor, 
will  protect  a  commercial  marine  not  less  considerable  in  its  kind  than  the 
warlike  marine  of  which  your  port  has  been  long  so  distinguished  ai 
asylum,  when  the  town  of  Plymouth  will  participate  in  the  commercial 
prosperity  as  largely  as  it  has  hitherto  done  in  the  naval  glories  of  Eng- 
land. 


1 


SYDNEY  SMITH  (J77J4845) 

ENGLAND'S  FAMOUS  ORATOR  OF  HUMOR 


mHE  fact  that  he  was  in  holy  orders  was  not  enough  to  check 
Sydney  Smith's  irresistible  tendency  to  wit  and  humor,  which 
broke  out  on  every  occasion,  and  some  of  his  amusing  sayings 
seem  destined  to  remain  among  the  bright  small-coin  of  the  world 
for  ages  to  come.  He  could  be  serious  enough,  indeed,  when  need 
demanded,  but  it  was  no  easy  matter  for  him  to  talk  long  without 
some  witticism  cropping  out.  A  friend  of  Jeffreys  and  Brougham, 
he  joined  with  them  in  the  enterprise  of  publishing  the  Endinburgh 
Review,  of  which  he  was  the  first  editor,  and  to  which  he  contributed 
for  years.  Among  his  contributions  to  the  cause  of  reform  was  his 
anonymous  work  entitled,  ''  Letters  on  the  Subject  of  the  Catholics  to 
My  Brother  Abraham,  by  Peter  Plymley."  This  had  a  very  large 
circulation,  and  greatly  promoted  the  cause  of  Catholic  emancipation. 
In  fact,  Smith  was  a  man  of  large  and  liberal  mind,  and  not  one  to 
be  governed  by  partisan  prejudice. 

THE  OPPONENTS  OF  REFORM 

[Smith  was  not  alone  a  wit  and  essayist,  and  a  famous  conversationalist,  but  he 
was  an  orator  as  well,  and  this  not  only  in  the  pulpit,  but  on  secular  subjects.  His 
finest  effort  in  this  direction  was  his  famous  address  at  Taunton  on  the  Reform  Bill, 
October  12,  1831.  This  is  especially  notable  for  the  inimitable  Mrs.  Partington  illus- 
tration, which  stands  among  the  world's  finest  examples  of  the  humorous  anecdote.] 

Mr.  BaiIvIFF  :  I  have  spoken  so  often  on  this  subject,  that  I  am  sure 
both  you  and  the  gentlemen  here  present  will  be  obliged  to  me  for  saying 
but  little,  and  that  favor  I  am  as  willing  to  confer  as  you  can  be  to  receive 
it.  I  feel  most  deeply  the  event  which  has  taken  place,  because,  by  put- 
ting the  two  houses  of  Parliament  in  collision  with  each  other,  it  will 
impede  the  public  business  and  diminish  the  public  prosperity.  I  feel  it 
as  a  churchman,  because  I  cannot  but  blush  to  see  so  many  dignitaries  of 
33  513 


614  SYDNEY  SMITH 


the  Church  arrayed  against  the  wishes  and  happiness  of  the  people, 
feel  it  more  than  all,  because  I  believe  it  will  sow  the  seed  of  deadly  hatred 
between  the  aristocracy  and  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  The  loss  oj' 
the  bill  I  do  not  feel,  and  for  the  best  of  all  possible  reasons — because  I 
have  not  the  slightest  idea  that  it  is  lost.  I  have  no  more  doubt,  before 
the  expiration  of  the  winter,  that  this  bill  will  pass,  than  I  have  that  the 
annual  tax  bills  will  pass  ;  and  greater  certainty  than  this  no  man  can  have, 
for  Franklin  tells  us  there  are  but  two  things  certain  in  this  world — death 
and  taxes.  As  for  the  possibility  of  the  House  of  Lords  preventing  ere 
long  a  reform  of  Parliament,  I  hold  it  to  be  the  most  absurd  notion  that 
ever  entered  into  human  imagination. 

I  do  not  mean  to  be  disrespectful,  but  the  attempt  of  the  lords  to  stop 
the  progress  of  reform  reminds  me  very  forcibly  of  the  great  storm  of 
Sidmouth,  and  of  the  conduct  of  the  excellent  Mrs.  Partington  on  that 
occasion.  In  the  winter  of  1824,  there  set  in  a  great  flood  upon  that 
town ;  the  tide  rose  to  an  incredible  height ;  the  waves  rushed  in  upon 
the  houses,  and  everything  was  threatened  with  destruction.  In  thei| 
midst  of  this  sublime  and  terrible  storm,  Dame  Partington,  who  lived 
upon  the  beach,  was  seen  at  the  door  of  her  house  with  mop  and  pattens? 
trundling  her  mop,  squeezing  out  the  sea- water,  and  vigorously  pushing, 
away  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  Atlantic  was  roused.  Mrs.  Partington'} 
spirit  was  up  ;  but  I  need  not  tell  you  that  the  contest  was  unequal.  Th(,' 
Atlantic  Ocean  beat  Mrs.  Partington.  She  was  excellent  at  a  slop  or  { 
puddle,  but  she  should  not  have  meddled  with  a  tempest.  Gentlemen,  hif 
at  your  ease — be  quiet  and  steady.     You  will  beat  Mrs.  Partington,      j 

They  tell  you,   gentlemen,  in  the  debates  by  which  we  have  bee»| 
lately  occupied,  that  the  bill  is  not  justified  by  experience.     I  do  no, 
think  this  true,  but  if  it  were   true,  nations   are  sometimes   compelle«ii 
to   act   without  experience   for  their  guide,    and   to   trust   to  their  owi^j 
sagacity  for  the  anticipation  of  consequences.     The  instances  where  thi' 
country  has  been  compelled  thus  to  act  have  been  so  eminently  successful! 
that  I  see  no  cause  for  fear,  even  if  we  were  acting  in  the  manner  impute)  i 
to  us  by  our  enemies.     What  precedents  and  what  experience  were  ther 
at  the  Reformation,  when  the  country,  with  one  unanimous  effort,  pushe'  I 
out  the  pope  and  his  grasping  and  ambitious  clergy  ?     What  experience  \  a 
when,  at  the  Revolution,  we  drove  away  our  ancient  race  of  kings,  ani 
chose  another  family  more  congenial  to  our  free  principles  ?     And  yet  t;  - 
those  two  events,  contrary  to  experience,  and  unguided  by  precedents,  w    : 
owe  all  our  domestic  happiness  and  civil  and  religious  freedom — and  ha\i  1 
ing  got  rid  of  corrupt  priests  and  despotic  kings  by  our  sense  and  on: 
courage,  are  we  now  to  be  intimidated  by  the  awful  danger  of  extinguishin 


11 


SYDNEY  SMITH  615 

lioroughmongers,  and   shaking   from   our   necks   the   ignominious  yoke 
which  their  baseness  has  imposed  upon  us  ! 

Go  on,  they  say,  as  you  have  done  for  these  hundred  years  last  past. 
I  luiswer,  it  is  impossible — five  hundred  people  now  write  and  read  where 
one  hundred  wrote  and  read  fifty  years  ago.  The  iniquities  and  the  enor- 
mities of  the  borough  system  are  now  known  to  the  meanest  of  the  peo- 
ple. You  have  a  diiferent  sort  of  men  to  deal  with  :  you  must  change 
l)ecause  the  beings  whom  you  govern  are  changed.  After  all,  and  to  be 
short,  I  must  say  that  it  has  always*  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  most  abso- 
lute nonsense  that  we  cannot  be  a  great  or  a  rich  and  happy  nation  with- 
out suifering  ourselves  to  be  bought  and  sold  every  five  years  like  a  pack 
of  negro  slaves.  I  hope  I  am  not  a  very  rash  man,  but  I  would  launch 
boldly  into  this  experiment  without  any  fear  of  consequences,  and  I 
believe  there  is  not  a  man  here  present  who  would  not  cheerfully  embark 
with  me.  As  to.  the  enemies  of  the  bill,  who  pretend  to  be  reformers,  I 
know  them,  I  believe,  better  than  you  do,  and  I  earnestly  caution  you 
ngainst  them.  You  will  have  no  more  of  reform  than  they  are  compelled 
to  grant,  you  will  have  no  reform  at  all,  if  they  can  avoid  it ;  you  will  be 
hurried  into  a  war  to  turn  your  attention  from  reform.  They  do  not  under- 
stand you  ;  they  will  not  believe  in  the  improvement  you  have  made ; 
they  think  the  English  of  the  present  day  are  as  the  English  of  the  times 
of  Queen  Anne  or  George  I.  They  know  no  more  of  the  present  state  of 
their  own  country  than  of  the  state  of  the  Esquimaux  Indians.  Gentle- 
men, I  view  the  ignorance  of  the  present  state  of  the  country  with  the 
jtnost  serious  concern,  and  I  believe  they  will  one  day  or  another  waken 
into  conviction  with  horror  and  dismay. 

[The  iniquitous  borough  system  of  England,  which  had  no  excuse  but  custom 
111(1  antiquity  for  its  absurdities,  was  further  satirized  by  Smith  in  the  following  lud- 
oious  comparison.] 

They  tell  you,  gentlemen,  that  you  have  grown  rich  and  powerful 
vith  these  rotten  boroughs,  and  that  it  would  be  madness  to  part  with 
hem,  or  to  alter  a  constitution  which  had  produced  such  happy  effects, 
["here  happens,  gentlemen,  to  live  near  my  parsonage  a  laboring  man  of 
^ery  superior  character  and  understanding  to  his  fellow-laborers,  and  who 
las  made  such  good  use  of  that  superiority  that  he  has  saved  what  is — for 
Us  station  in  life — a  very  considerable  sum  of  money,  and  if  his  existence 
^  extended  to  the  common  period  he  will  die  rich.  It  happens,  however, 
bat  he  is — and  long  has  been — troubled  with  violent  stomachic  pains,  for 
>  yhich  he  has  hitherto  obtained  no  relief,  and  which  really  are  the  bane 
|nd  torment  of  his  life.  Now,  if  my  excellent  laborer  were  to  send  for  a 
I'hysician  and  to  conjiult  him  respecting  this  malady,  would  it  not  be  very 


616  SYDNEY  SMITH 

singular  language  if  our  doctor  were  to  say  to  him  :  "My  good  friend,  you 
surely  will  not  be  so  rash  as  to  attempt  to  get  rid  of  these  pains  in  your 
stomach.  Have  you  not  grown  rich  with  these  pains  in  your  stomach? 
Have  you  not  risen  under  them  from  poverty  to  prosperity  ?  Has  not  your 
situation  since  you  were  first  attacked  been  improving  every  year  ?  You 
surely  will  not  be  so  foolish  and  so  indiscreet  as  to  part  with  the  pains  in 
your  stomach?"  Why,  what  would  be  the  answer  of  the  rustic  to  this 
nonsensical  monition  ?  *'  Monster  of  rhubarb,"  he  would  say,  "I  am  not 
rich  in  consequence  of  the  pains  in  my  stomach,  but  in  spite  of  the  pains 
in  my  stomach  ;  and  I  should  have  been  ten  times  richer,  and  fifty  times 
happier,  if  I  had  never  had  any  pains  in  my  stomach  at  all."  Gentlemen, 
these  rotten  boroughs  are  your  pains  in  the  stomach. 

TAXES  THE  PRICE  OF  GLORY 

[There  is  another  pithy  example  of  Smith's  amusing  way  of  presenting  serious 
truths  which  has  been  quoted  a  thousand  times,  and  is  Hkely  to  be  quoted  many 
thousand  times  more.  Here  is  one  of  its  thousand  presentations  to  the  reading 
public.  1 

John  Bull  can  inform  Jonathan  what  are  the  inevitable  consequences 
of  being  too  fond  of  glory  ! — Taxes  !     Taxes  upon  every  article  which 
enters  into  the  mouth,  or  covers  the  back,  or  is  placed  under  the  foot; 
taxes  upon  everything  which  it  is  pleasant  to  see,  hear,  feel,  smell  or 
taste ;  taxes  upon  warmth,  light  and  locomotion  ;  taxes  on  everything  on 
earth,  and  the  waters  under  the  earth  ;  on  everything  that  comes  from 
abroad,  or  is  grown  at  home  ;Kaxes  on  the  raw  material ;  taxes  on  every  i 
fresh  value  that  is  added  to  it  by  the  industry  of  men  ;  taxes  on  the  sauce  | 
which  pampers  man's  appetite,  and  the  drug  which  restores  him  to  health ; 
on  the  ermine  which  decorates  the  judge,  and  the  rope  which  hangs  the  | 
criminal ;  on  the  poor  man's  salt,  and  the  rich  man's  spice  ;Von  the  brass  i 
nails  of  the  coffin,  and  the  ribbons  of  the  bride  ; — at  bed- or  board,  couch-  j 
ant  or  levant,  we  must  pay.  [ 

The  schoolboy  whips  his  taxed  top  ;  the  beardless  youth  manages  his 
taxed  horse,  with  a  taxed  bridle,  on  a  taxed  road  ;  and  the  dying  English- 
man, pouring  his  medicine,  which  has  paid  seven  per  cent,  into  a  spoon 
that  has  paid  fifteen  per  cent.,  flings  himself  back  upon  his  chintz  bed, 
which  has  paid  twenty-two  per  cent.,  makes  his  will  on  an  eight-pound 
stamp,  and  expires  in  the  arms  of  an  apothecary,  who  has  paid  a  license 
of  a  hundred  pounds  for  the  privilege  of  putting  him  to  death.  His  whole 
property  is  then  immediately  taxed  from  two  to  ten  per  cent.  Besides  the 
probate,  large  fees  are  demanded  for  burying  him  in  the  chancel ;  his  vir- 
tues are  handed  down  to  posterity  on  taxed  marble  ;  and  he  is  then  gaUi- 
ered  to  his  fathers, — to  be  taxed  no  more. 


JAMES  FOX  DELIVERING  HIS  GREAT  SPEECH 

In  1774  this  Famous  Orator  delivered  an  eloquent  speech  in  Par- 
liament advising  concihatory  measures  towards  the  colonies. 
This  illustration  portrays  the  scene. 


EDMUND  BURKE  AT  HASTINGS'  TRIAL 
I     The  trial  of  Warren  Hastings  for  misrule  in  India  brought  forth 
r*[  many  eloquent  orators,  of  whom  Burke  was  the  foremost. 


DANIEL  O^CONNELL  (J 775-1 847) 

THE  HRST  ORATOR  OF  EUROPE 


I  T  It  is  to  John  Randolph  that  O'Connell  owes  the  title  of  "  The 
I  X  I  ^i^s^  Orator  of  Europe/'  which  we  have  affixed  to  his  name. 
It  was  as  "  The  Liberator  '^  that  he  was  known  at  home,  as  a 
tribute  to  his  strenuous  efforts  to  free  Ireland  from  the  supremacy  of 
1  jiglish  rule.  The  history  of  the  great  agitator  we  must  deal  with 
\"ery  briefly.  A  native  of  County  Kerry,  he  studied  law  and  was 
called  to  the  Irish  bar  in  1798,  and  for  twenty-two  years  enjoyed  an 
(  uormous  practice  in  the  Munster  circuit.  During  this  time  he  was  a 
\ehement  advocate  of  the  rights  of  the  Catholics.  Catholic  emanci- 
pation came  in  1828,  and  he  entered  Parliament  in  1830,  where  he 
agitated  for  the  repeal  of  the  Union  of  Ireland  with  Great  Britain,  and 
lor  ten  years  and  more  stirred  up  the  members  by  his  wit,  irony,  vehe- 
mence and  invective.  Yet  he  kept  the  Irish  from  violent  outbreaks 
until  1843,  when  the  Young  Ireland  party  threatened  to  break  loose 
iVom  his  dictation.  He  now  traversed  Ireland  in  an  agitation  for 
repeal,  monster  meetings  being  held — that  on  the  Hill  of  Tara,  on 
August  15th,  numbering  three-quarters  of  a  million.  Asa  result  he 
was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  conspiracy  to  raise  sedition,  and  sentenced 
to  fine  and  imprisonment — lying  three  months  in  prison  before  his 
release  by  the  House  of  Lords.  With  this  began  the  breakdown  of 
his  health  and  great  strength,  he  dying  in  1847  while  on  his  way  to 
Home. 

As  an  orator  O'Connell  was  gifted  with  remarkable  natural  pow- 
ers. Disraeli,  one  of  his  active  opponents,  says  that  "  his  voice  was 
the  finest  ever  heard  in  Parliament,  distinct,  deep,  sonorous,  and  flex- 
il)le."  While  often  slovenly  in  style,  his  powers  of  moving  an  audi- 
ence— an  Irish  audience  in  particular — was  irresistible.     In  the  great 

617 


618  DANIEL  O'CONNELL 

struggle  of  his  life,  that  for  the  rights  of  Ireland,  he  was  one  of  the 
most  effective  popular  leaders  of  modern  times.  As  examples  of  his 
bitterness  in  epithet  may  be  given  his  comparison  of  the  smile  of 
Sir  Robert  Peel  to  the  shine  of  a  silver  plate  on  a  coffin,  and  his 
designation  of  Disraeli  as  "  heir-at-law  of  the  blasphemous  thief  who 
died  upon  the  cross." 

THE  CHARMS  OF  KILDARE 

[The  following  extract  is  from  a  speech  of  O' Conn  ell  at  MuUaghmast,  County 
Kildare,  in  September,  1843,  during  the  campaign  of  agitation  for  Repeal  of  the  Union.] 

I  wish  to  live  long  enough  to  have  perfect  justice  administered  to 
Ireland  and  liberty  proclaimed  throughout  the  land.  It  will  take  me  some 
time  to  prepare  my  plan  for  the  formation  of  the  new  Irish  House  of 
Commons ;  that  plan  which  we  will  yet  submit  to  her  Majesty  for  her 
approval,  when  she  gets  rid  of  her  present  paltry  Administration  and  has 
one  which  I  can  support  ....  You  may  be  sure  of  this, — and  I  say  it 
in  the  presence  of  Him  who  will  judge  me, — that  I  never  will  willfully 
deceive  you.  I  have  but  one  wish  under  heaven,  and  that  is  for  the 
liberty  and  prosperity  of  Ireland.  I  am  for  leaving  England  to  the  Eng- 
lish, Scotland  to  the  Scotch,  but  we  must  have  Ireland  for  the  Irish.  I 
will  not  be  content  until  I  see  not  a  single  man  in  any  office,  from  the 
lowest  constable  to  the  lord  chancellor,  but  Irishmen.  This  is  our  land, 
and  we  must  have  it.  We  will  be  obedient  to  the  Queen,  joined  to  Eng- 
land by  the  golden  link  of  the  crown,  but  we  must  have  our  own  parlia- 
ment, our  own  bench,  our  own  magistrates,  and  we  will  give  some  of  the 
s/ioneens  who  now  occupy  the  bench  leave  to  retire,  such  as  those  lately 
appointed  by  Sugden.  He  is  a  pretty  boy,  sent  here  from  England  ;  but 
I  ask,  did  you  ever  hear  such  a  name  as  he  has  got  ?  I  remember,  in 
Wexford,  a  man  told  me  he  had  a  pig  at  home  which  he  was  so  fond  of 
that  he  would  call  it  Sugden. 

No;  we  will  get  judicial  independence  for  Ireland.  It  is  for  this 
purpose  we  are  assembled  here  to-day,  as  every  countenance  I  see  around  \ 
me  testifies.  If  there  is  any  one  here  who  is  not  for  the  Union  let  him  [ 
say  so.     Is  there  anybody  here  for  the  repeal  ?     [Cries  of  "All,  all !"] 

Yes,  my  friends,  the  Union  was  begot  in  iniquity,  it  was  perpetuated  ; 
in  fraud  and  cruelty.     It  was  no  compact,  no  bargain,  but  it  was  an  act  1 
of  the  most  decided  tyranny  and  corruption  that  was  ever  yet  perpetrated. 
Trial  by  jury  was  suspended  ;  the  right  of  personal  protection  was  at  an 
end ;  courts-martial  sat  throughout  the  land,  and  the  county  of  Kildare, 
among  others,  flowed  with  blood.     Oh,  my  friends,  listen  now  to  the  man  | 
of  peace,  who  will  never  expose  you  to  the  power  of  your  enemies.     In  ig 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL  519 

1798  there  were  some  brave  men,  some  valiant  men,  at  head  of  the  people 
at  large  ;  but  there  were  many  traitors,  who  left  the  people  in  the  power 
of  their  enemies.  The  Curragh  of  Kildare  afforded  an  instance  of  the 
fate  which  Irishmen  were  to  expect,  who  confided  in  their  Saxon  enemies. 
Oh,  it  was  an  ill-organized,  a  premature,  a  foolish,  and  an  absurd  insur- 
rection ;  but  you  have  a  leader  now  who  never  will  allow  you  to  commit 
any  act  so  foolish  or  so  destructive. 

How  delighted  do  I  feel  with  the  thorough  conviction  which  has 
come  over  the  minds  of  the  people,  that  they  could  not  gratify  your  ene- 
mies more  than  by  committing  a  crime.  No  ;  our  ancestors  suffered  for 
confiding  in  the  English,  but  we  never  will  confide  in  them.  They  suf- 
fered for  being  divided  among  themselves.  There  is  no  division  among 
us.  They  suffered  for  their  own  dissensions — for  not  standing  man  to  man 
by  each  other's  side.  We  shall  stand  peaceably  side  by  side  in  the  face  of 
every  enemy.  Oh,  how  delighted  was  I  in  the  scenes  which  I  witnessed 
as  I  came  along  here  to-day  !  How  my  heart  throbbed,  how  my  spirit 
was  elevated,  how  my  bosom  swelled  with  delight  at  the  multitude  which 
I  beheld,  and  which  I  shall  behold,  of  the  stalwart  and  strong  men  of 
Kildare  !  I  was  delighted  at  the  activity  and  force  that  I  saw  around 
me ;  and  my  old  heart  grew  warm  again  in  admiring  the  beauty  of  the 
dark- eyed  maids  and  matrons  of  Kildare.  Oh,  there  is  a  starlight  spark- 
ling from  the  eye  of  a  Kildare  beauty,  that  is  scarcely  equaled,  and  could 
not  be  excelled,  all  over  the  world.  And  remember  that  you  are  the  sons, 
the  fathers,  the  brothers,  and  the  husbands  of  such  women,  and  a  traitor 
or  a  coward  could  never  be  connected  with  any  of  them. 

Yes,  I  am  in  a  county  remarkable  in  the  history  of  Ireland  for  its 

bravery  and  its  misfortune,  for  its  credulity  in  the  faith  of  others,  for  its 

people  judged  of  the  Saxon  by  the  honesty  and  honor  of  its  own  natures. 

I  am  in  a  country  celebrated  for  the  sacredness  of  its  shrines  and  fanes. 

I  am  in  a  country  where  the  lamp  of  Kildare 's  holy  shrine  burned  with 

its  sacred  fire,  through  ages  of  darkness  and  storm  ;  that  fire  which  for 

six  centuries  burned  before  the  high  altar  without  being  extinguished, 

!  being  fed  continuously,  without  the  slightest  interruption  ;  and  it  seemed 

I  to  me  to  have  been  not  an  inapt  representation  of  the  continuous  fidelity 

;  and  religious  love  of  country  of  the  men  of  Kildare.     Yes,  you  have  those 

'  high  qualities — religious  fidelity,  continuous  love  of  country.     Even  your 

!  enemies  admit  that  the  world  has  never  produced  any  people  that  exceeded 

I  the  Irish  in  activity  and  strength.     The  Scottish  philosopher  has  declared, 

and  the  French  philosopher  has  confirmed  it,  that  number  one  in  the 

I  human  race  is,  blessed  be  Heaven  !   the  Irishman.     In  moral  virtue,  in 

I  religion,  in  perseverance,  and  in  glorious  temperance,  you  excel.     Have 


520  DANIEL  O'CONNELL 

I  any  teetotalers  here  ?  Yes,  it  is  teetotalism  that  is  repealing  the 
Union.  I  could  not  afford  to  bring  you  together,  I  would  not  dare  to 
bring  you  together,  but  that  I  had  the  teetotalers  for  my  police. 

Yes,  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  Ireland  stands  number  one  in 
the  physical  strength  of  her  sons  and  in  the  beauty  and  purity  of  heff 
daughters.  Ireland,  land  of  my  forefathers,  how  my  mind  expands,  and 
my  spirit  walks  abroad  in  something  of  majesty,  when  I  contemplate  the 
high  qualities,  inestimable  virtues,  and  true  purity  and  piety  and  religious 
fidelity  of  the  inhabitants  of  our  green  fields  and  productive  mountains. 
Oh,  what  a  scene  surrounds  us  !  It  is  not  only  the  countless  thousands 
of  brave  and  active  and  peaceable  and  religious  men  that  are  here  assem- 
bled, but  Nature  herself  has  written  her  character  with  the  finest  beauty 
in  the  verdant  plains  that  surround  us.  Let  any  man  run  round  the  hori- 
zon with  his  eye,  and  tell  me  if  created  Nature  ever  produced  anything 
so  green  and  so  lovely,  so  undulating,  so  teeming  with  production.  The 
richest  harvests  that  any  land  can  produce  are  those  reaped  in  Ireland ; 
and  then  here  are  the  sweetest  meadows,  the  greenest  fields,  the  loftiest 
mountains,  the  purest  streams,  the  noblest  rivers,  the  most  capacious  har- 
bors, and  her  water-power  is  equal  to  turn  the  machinery  of  the  whole 
world. 

Oh,  my  friends,  it  is  a  country  v/orth  fighting  for  ;  it  is  a  countr^ 
worth  dying   for ;  but  above  all,  it  is  a  country  worth  being  tranqui! 
determined,  submissive,  and  docile  for ;  disciplined  as  you  are  in  obedi 
ence  to  those  who  are  breaking  the  way,  and  trampling  down  the  barriers 
between  you  and  your  constitutional  liberty,  I  will  see  every  man  of  you 
having  a  vote,  and  every  man  protected  by  the  ballot  from  the  agent  or 
landlord.     I  will  see  labor  protected,  and  every  title  to  possession  recog- 
nized, when  you  are  industrious  and  honest.     I  will  see  prosperity  again    |! 
throughout  your  land  ;  the  busy  hum  of  the  shuttle  and  the  tinkling  of   n 
the  smithy  shall  be  heard  again.     We  shall  see  the  nailer  employed  even    P 
until  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  the  carpenter  covering  himself  with  his    j 
chips.     I  will  see  prosperity  in  all  its  gradations  spreading  through  a    ' 
happy,  contented  religious  land.     I  will  hear  the  hymn  of  a  happy  people 
go  forth  at  sunrise  to  God  in  praise  of  His  mercies,   and  I  will  see  thj 
evening  sun  set   amongst   the   uplifted   hands   of  a   religious   and  frei 
population.     Every  blessing  that  man  can  bestow  and  religion  can  confar 
upon  the  faithful  heart  shall  spread  throughout  the  land.     Stand  by  me-^'  jj  c 
join  with  me — I  will  say  be  obedient  to  me,  and  Ireland  shall  be  free.  I'  1 


1 


i 


LORD  HENRY  BROUGHAM    (1779-1868) 

THE  CHAMPION  OF  POPULAR  LIBERTIES 


mHE  active  career  of  Brougham  covered  the  period  between  the 
age  of  the  oratory  of  the  French  Revolutionary  excitement  and 
that  of  Gladstone  and  Disraeli,  beginning  with  opposition  to 
the  policy  of  Pitt  and  extending  to  the  French  Revolution  of  1848,  of 
which  he  so  highly  approved  that  he  wished  he  were  naturalized  as  a 
French  citizen.  In  his  day  he  was  the  greatest  of  Liberal  orators,  a 
man  eminent  in  passionate  invective  and  vehemence  of  declamation. 
It  was  as  a  commoner  he  was  great,  a  man  of  the  people,  and  the 
acceptance  of  a  title  in  1830  robbed  him  of  much  of  his  strength. 
A  native  of  Edinburgh,  and  early  distinguished  for  his  learning 
and  versatility,  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Edinburgh  Remew 
and  of  its  leading  early  contributors.  Choosing  the  law  as  his  profes- 
sion, he  had  won  fame  as  a  forensic  orator  before  he  entered  Parlia- 
ment in  1810.     Here  he   soon  reached   the  front  rank  as  a  debater. 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  PERIL  OF  WAR  WITH  AMERICA 

[In  the  election  canvass  of  1812  Brougham  was  a  candidate  for  Parliament,  and 
did  not  hesitate  to  denounce  in  vigorous  language  the  governmental  policy  of  war 
with  America,  and  also  to  hold  Pitt  very  severely  to  account  for  the  miseries  arising 
from  the  war  with  France.  The  selection  given  from  his  speech  at  Liverpool  during 
this  campaign  is  an  excellent  example  of  his  vigor  and  vehemence.] 

I  trust  myself  once  more  in  your  faithful  hands  ;  I  fling  myself  again 
on  you  for  protection  ;  I  call  aloud  to  you  to  bear  your  own  cause  in  your 
hearts  ;  I  implore  of  you  to  come  forth  in  your  own  defense,  for  the  sake 
of  this  vast  town  and  its  people,  for  the  salvation  of  the  middle  and  lower 
orders,  for  the  whole  industrial  part  of  the  whole  country  ;  I  entreat  you 
by  your  love  of  peace,  by  your  hatred  of  oppression,  by  your  weariness  of 

521 


522  LORD   HENRY  BROUGHAM 

burthensome  and  useless  taxation,  by  yet  another  appeal  to  whicb  those 
must  lend  an  ear  who  have  been  deaf  to  all  the  rest ;  I  ask  it  for  your 
families,  for  your  infants,  if  you  would  avoid  such  a  winter  of  horrors  as 
the  last.  It  is  coming  fast  upon  us  ;  already  it  is  near  at  hand  ;  yet  a  few 
more  weeks  and  we  may  be  in  the  midst  of  those  unspeakable  miseries, 
the  recollection  of  which  now  rends  your  very  souls.  If  there  is  one  free- 
man amongst  this  immense  multitude  who  has  not  tendered  his  voice,  and 
if  he  can  be  deaf  to  this  appeal,  if  he  can  suffer  the  threats  of  our  antag- 
onists to  frighten  him  away  from  the  recollection  of  the  last  dismal  winter, 
that  man  will  not  vote  for  me.  But  if  I  have  the  happiness  of  addressing 
one  honest  man  amongst  you,  who  has  a  care  left  for  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren, or  for  other  endearing  ties  of  domestic  tenderness  (and  which  of  us 
is  altogether  without  them?),  that  man  will  lay  his  hand  on  his  heart 
when  I  now  bid  him  do  so,  and  with  those  little  threats  of  present  spite 
ringing  in  his  ear,  he  will  rather  consult  his  fears  of  greater  evil  by  listen- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  his  heart,  when  he  casts  a  look  towards  the  dreadful 
season  through  which  he  lately  passed,  and  will  come  bravely  foward  to 
place  those  men  in  Parliament  whose  whole  efforts  have  been  directed 
towards  the  restoration  of  p'eace  and  the  revival  of  trade. 

Do  not,  gentlemen,  listen  to  those  who  tell  you  the  cause  of  freedom  is 
desperate  ;  they  are  the  enemies  of  that  cause  and  of  you ;  but  listen  to  me, 
— and  I  am  one  who  has  never  yet  deceived  you, — I  say,  then,  that  it  will 
be  desperate  if  you  make  no  exertions  to  retrieve  it.  I  tell  you  that  your 
language  alone  can  betray  it,  that  it  can  only  be  made  desperate  through 
your  despair.  I  am  not  a  man  to  be  cast  down  by  temporary  reverses,  let 
them  come  upon  us  as  thick  and  as  swift  and  as  sudden  as  they  may.  I 
am  not  he  who  is  daunted  by  majorities  in  the  outset  of  a  struggle  for  wor- 
thy objects, — else  I  should  not  now  stand  here  before  you  to  boast  of  tri-  « 
uniphs  won  in  your  cause.  If  your  champions  had  5delded  to  the  force  of  '• 
numbers,  of  gold,  of  power,  if  defeat  could  have  dismayed  them,  then  ;' 
would  the  African  slave-trade  never  have  been  abolished  ;  then  would  the  ■^> 
cause  of  reform,  which  now  bids  fair  to  prevail  over  its  enemies,  have  been  h 
long  ago  sunk  amidst  the  desertions  of  its  friends  ;  then  would  those  pros-  f 
pects  of  peace  have  been  utterly  benighted,  which  I  still  devoutly  cherish, 
and  which  even  now  brighten  in  our  eyes  ;  then  would  the  Orders  in 
Council,  which  I  overthrew  by  your  support,  have  remained  a  disgrace  to 
the  British  name,  and  an  eternal  obstacle  to  our  best  interests.  I  no  more 
despond  now  than  I  have  done  in  the  course  of  those  sacred  and  glorious 
contentions,  but  it  is  for  you  to  say  whether  to-morrow  shall  not  make  it 
my  duty  to  despair.  To-morrow  is  your  last  day  ;  your  last  efforts  must 
then  be  made  ;  if  you  put  forth  your  strength  the  day  is  your  own  ;  if  you 


LORD   HENRY  BROUGHAM  623 

desert  it,  it  is  lost.     To  win  it,  I  shall  be  the  first  to  lead  you  on  and  the 
last  to  forsake  you. 

Gentlemen,  when  I  told  you  a  little  while  ago  that  there  were  new 
and  powerful  reasons  to-day  for  ardently  desiring  that  our  cause  might 
succeed,  I  did  not  sport  with  you  ;  yourselves  shall  now  judge  of  them. 
I  ask  you, — Is  the  trade  with  America  of  any  importance  to  this  great  and 
thickly-peopled  town?  [Cries  of  "Yes,  yes!"]  Is  a  continuance  of 
the  rupture  with  America  likely  to  destroy  that  trade  ?  [lyoud  cries  of 
**  It  is,  it  is  !  "]  Is  there  any  man  who  would  deeply  feel  it,  if  he  heard 
that  the  rupture  was  at  length  converted  into  open  war  ?  Is  there  a  man 
present  who  would  not  be  somewhat  alarmed  if  he  supposed  that  we  should 
have  another  year  without  the  American  trade  ?  Is  there  any  one  of 
nerves  so  hardy,  as  calmly  to  hear  that  our  government  has  given  up  all 
negotiation,  abandoned  all  hopes  of  speedy  peace  with  America?  Then  I 
tell  that  man  to  brace  up  his  nerves  ;  I  bid  you  all  be  prepared  to  hear 
what  touches  you  all  equally.  We  are  by  this  day's  intelligence  at  war 
with  America  in  earnest ;  our  government  has  at  length  issued  letters  of 
marque  and  reprisal  against  the  United  States.  [Universal  cries  of  "  God 
help  us,  God  help  us  !  "]  Aye,  God  help  us  !  God  of  His  infinite  com- 
passion take  pity  on  us  !  God  help  and  protect  this  poor  town,  and  this 
whole  trading  country  !  .    .    .    . 

Gentlemen,  I  stand  up  in  this  contest  against  the  friends  and  fol- 
lowers of  Mr.  Pitt,  or,  as  they  partially  designate  him,  the  "immortal  states- 
man," now  no  more.  Immortal  in  the  miseries  of  his  devoted  country  ! 
Immortal  in  the  wounds  of  her  bleeding  liberties  !  Immortal  in  the  cruel 
wars  which  sprang  from  his  cold  miscalculating  ambition  !  Immortal  in 
the  intolerable  taxes,  the  countless  loads  of  debt  which  these  wars  have 
flung  upon  us,  which  the  youngest  man  among  us  will  not  live  to  see  the 
end  of!  Immortal  in  the  triumph  of  our  enemies,  and  the  ruin  of  our 
allies,  the  costly  purchase  of  so  much  blood  and  treasure  !  Immortal  in 
the  afflictions  of  England,  and  the  humiliations  of  her  friends,  through  the 
whole  results  of  his  twenty  years'  reign,  from  the  first  rays  of  favor  with 
which  a  delighted  court  gilded  his  early  apostasy,  to  the  deadly  glare 
which  is  at  this  instant  cast  upon  his  name  by  the  burning  metropolis  of  our 
last  ally.  But  may  no  such  immortality  fall  to  my  lot ;  let  me  rather  live 
innocent  and  inglorious  ;  and  when  at  last  I  cease  to  serve  you,  and  to 
feel  for  your  wrongs,  may  I  have  an  humble  monument  in  some  nameless 
Stone,  to  tell  that  beneath  it  there  rests  from  his  labors  in  your  service 
**  an  enemy  of  the  'immortal  statesman' — a  friend  of  peace  and  of  the 
people." 


VISCOUNT  PALMERSTON  (1784- J  865) 

A  MASTER  OF  PARLIAMENTARY  TACTICS 


EOR  some  fifty  years  Henry  John  Temple,  Viscount  Palmerston, 
played  a  leading  part  in  British  politics,  being  lord  and  master 
in  the  management  of  foreign  affairs  for  the  greater  part  of 
that  period.  Succeeding  his  father  as  third  Viscount  in  1802,  he 
entered  Parliament  in  1806,  and  remained  there  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
He  became  a  member  of  the  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  War  in  1809, 
and  held  this  portfolio  until  1828,  under  five  diff'erent  Tory  ministers. 
Joining  now  the  Whig  party,  he  became  Secretary  of  Foreign  Aff'airs 
under  Earl  Grey  in  1830.  He  resigned  in  1841,  on  the  question  of 
free  trade  in  corn,  but  resumed  his  office  in  1846.  In  1855  he  was 
made  Prime  Minister,  and  vigorously  prosecuted  the  Crimean  War. 
With  slight  intermission  he  held  the  premiership  until  his  death  in 
1865.  Palmerston  made  numerous  enemies  abroad  and  at  home.  His 
self-asserting  character,  brusqueness  of  speech,  and  interferences  in 
foreign  affkirs,  were  little  calculated  to  soften  party  animosity  in  Eng- 
land, w^hile  his  arbitrary  manner  won  him  foes  abroad.  "  Firebrand 
Palmerston  "  was  the  name  his  quickness  of  temper  brought  him. 
One  example  of  his  haste  was  his  approval  of  the  coup  d'etat  of  Louis 
Napoleon  in  1851,  without  consulting  the  Queen  or  the  Prime  Min- 
ister. Yet  withal  he  was  a  national  rather  than  a  party  leader,  and 
won  genuine  acceptance  of  his  course  from  the  people.  He  had  great 
business  ability  and  political  tact,  was  dexterous  in  parliamentary  tac- 
tics, and  a  ready,  witty,  and  often  brilliant  debater. 

CIVIL  WAR  IN  IRELAND 

[It  was  the  question  of  Catholic  emancipation  in  Ireland,  which  Lord  Palmerston 
favored,  that  caused  him,  in  1828,  to  resign  from  Wellington's  cabinet,  and  turn  from 
Tory  to  Whig  principles.  His  opinion  of  forcible  coercion  in  Ireland  is  well  expressed 
in  a  speech  made  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  1829.] 
524 


II 


'.M4« 


,  EDMUND  BURKE 

i    Macaulay  the   great   English   Historian   says  that   Burke  was 
\  superior  to  every  orator,  ancient  and  modern  in  richness  of  im- 
agination and  power  of  expression. 


VISCOUNT  PALMERSTON  526 

Then  come  we  to  the  last  remedy — civil  war.  Some  gentlemen  say 
that,  sooner  or  later,  we  must  fight  for  it,  and  the  sword  must  decide. 
They  tell  us  that,  if  blood  were  but  shed  in  Ireland,  Catholic  emancipa- 
tion might  be  avoided.  Sir,  when  honorable  gentlemen  shall  be  a  little 
deeper  read  in  the  history  of  Ireland,  they  will  find  that  in  Ireland  blood 
has  been  shed, — that  in  Ireland  leaders  have  been  seized,  trials  have  been 
had,  and  punishment  has  been  inflicted.  They  will  find,  indeed,  almost 
every  page  of  the  history  of  Ireland  darkened  by  bloodshed,  by  seizures, 
by  trials,  and  by  punishments.  But  what  has  been  the  effect  of  these 
measures  ?  They  have,  indeed,  been  successful  in  quelling  the  disturb- 
ances of  the  moment ;  but  they  never  have  gone  to  their  cause,  and  have 
only  fixed  deeper  the  poisoned  barb  that  rankles  in  the  heart  of  Ireland. 

Can  one  believe  one's  ears  when  one  hears  respectable  men  talk  so 
lightly — nay,  almost  so  wishfully — of  civil  war  !  Do  they  reflect  what  a 
countless  multitude  of  ills  those  three  short  syllables  contain  ?  It  is  well, 
indeed,  for  the  gentlemen  of  England,  who  live  secure  under  the  protect- 
ing shadow  of  the  law,  whose  slumbers  have  never  been  broken  by  the 
clashing  of  angry  swords,  whose  harvests  have  never  been  trodden  down 
by  the  conflict  of  hostile  feet — it  is  well  for  them  to  talk  of  civil  war  as 
if  it  were  some  holiday  pastime,  or  some  sport  of  children. 

'*  They  jest  at  scars  who  never  felt  a  wound." 

But  that  gentlemen  from  unfortunate  and  ill-starred  Ireland,  who  have 
seen  with  their  own  eyes,  and  heard  with  their  own  ears  the  miseries  which 
civil  war  produces  ;  who  have  known,  by  their  own  experience,  the  bar- 
barism, aye,  the  barbarity,  which  it  engenders  ; — that  such  persons  should 
look  upon  civil  war  as  anything  short  of  the  last  and  greatest  of  national 
calamities,  is  to  me  a  matter  of  the  most  unmixed  astonishment. 

I  will  grant,  if  you  will,  that  the  success  of  such  a  war  with  Ireland 
would  be  as  signal  and  complete  as  would  be  its  injustice.  I  will  grant, 
if  you  will,  that  resistance  would  soon  be  extinguished  with  the  lives  of 
those  who  resisted.  I  will  grant,  if  you  will,  that  the  crimsoned  banner 
of  England  would  soon  wave  in  undisputed  supremacy  over  the  smoking 
ashes  of  their  towns  and  the  blood-stained  solitude  of  their  fields.  But  I 
tell  you  that  England  herself  never  would  permit  the  achievement  of 
such  a  conquest ;  England  would  reject  in  disgust  laurels  that  were  dyed 
in  fraternal  blood ;  England  would  recoil  with  loathing  and  abhorrence 
from  the  bare  contemplation  of  so  devilish  a  triumph  ! 


SIR  ROBERT  PEEL  (J 7884 850) 

A  LEADING  CONSERVATIVE  ORATOR 


mHE  oldest  son  of  a  leading  cotton  manufacturer,  who  had 
amassed  a  great  fortune  in  this  growing  industry,  Sir  Robert 
Peel  made  his  mark  in  politics  as  his  father  had  done  in 
manufacture,  gradually  rising  in  reputation  and  influence,  until  in 
1841,  he  became  Prime  Minister  of  the  British  Healm.  The  Irish 
constabulary,  founded  by  him,  are  still  known  as  "  Peelers/'in  recogni- 
tion of  their  origin.  But  the  most  important  political  question  in  his 
administration  was  that  of  the  repeal  of  the  Com  Laws.  This  he  had 
at  first  opposed,  but  in  1846  he  made  an  eloquent  speech  in  its  favor, 
and,  by  the  aid  of  his  followers  and  the  Liberals,  those  oppressive  laws 
were  removed  from  the  English  statutes.  This  action  made  Peel  very 
popular,  but  his  career  was  suddenly  ended  by  a  fatal  fall  from  his 
horse  in  July,  1850. 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION 

[On  the  nth  of  January,  1837,  on  the  occasion  of  his  installation  as  Lord  Rector 
of  the  University  of  Glasgow,  Peel  made  an  eloquent  address  to  the  students  on  the 
benefits  of  the  higher  education.  We  select  a  passage  from  this  in  preference  to  his 
political  speeches,  as  possessing  a  broader  and  more  enduring  interest.] 

"  It  is  very  natural,"  says  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  "  for  those  who  are 
unacquainted  with  the  cause  of  anything  extraordinary,  to  be  astonished 
at  the  effect  and  to  consider  it  as  a  kind  of  magic. 

* '  The  travelers  into  the  East  tell  us  that  when  the  ignorant  inhabit- 
ants of  those  countries  are  asked  concerning  the  ruins  of  stately  edifices 
yet  remaining  among  them,  the  melancholy  monuments  of  their  former 
grandeur  and  long-lost  science,  they  always  answer  that  they  were  built 
by  magicians.  The  untaught  mind  finds  a  vast  gulf  between  its  own 
powers  and  those  works  of  complicated  art  which  it  is  utterly  unable  to 
526 


SIR  ROBERT  PEEL  527 

fathom,  and  it  supposes  that  such  a  void  can  be  surpassed  only  by  super- 
natural powers." 

We  have,  in  the  instance  of  Cicero,  the  stately  edifice,  the  monument 
of  intellectual  grandeur  ;  but  we  have  also  the  evidence  of  the  illustrious 
architect  to  prove  to  us  by  what  careful  process  the  foundations  were 
securely  laid  and  the  scaffolding  gradually  erected.  Our  wonder  at  the 
perfection  of  the  work  may  be  abated,  but  what  can  abate  our  admiration 
and  respect  for  the  elevated  views  ;  the  burning  thirst  for  knowledge  and 
for  fame  ;  the  noble  ambition  which  "  scorned  delights,  and  lived  labori- 
ous days  " — which  had  engraven  on  the  memory  the  paternal  exhortation 
to  the  hero  in  Homer,  the  noblest,  says  Dr.  Johnson,  that  can  be  found  in 
any  heathen  writer. 

The  name,  the  authority,  the  example  of  Cicero,  conduct  me  natu- 
rally to  a  topic  which  I  should  be  unwilling  to  pass  in  silence.  I  allude 
to  the  immense  importance  to  all  who  aspire  to  conspicuous  stations  in 
any  department  of  public  or  learned  professional  life,  the  immense  impor- 
tance of  classical  acquirements,  of  imbuing  your  minds  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  pure  models  of  antiquity  and  a  taste  for  their  constant  study  and 
cultivation.  Do  not  disregard  this  admonition  from  the  impression  that 
it  proceeds  from  the  natural  prejudice  in  favor  of  classical  learning,  which 
an  English  university  may  have  unconsciously  instilled,  or  that  it  is 
offered  presumptuously  by  one  who  is  ignorant  of  that  description  of 
knowledge  which  is  best  adapted  to  the  habits  and  occupations  of  society 
in  Scotland. 

Oh,  let  us  take  higher  and  more  extensive  views  !  Feel  assured  that 
a  wider  horizon  than  that  ofi  Scotland  is  opening  upon  you  ;  that  you  are 
candidates  starting  with  equal  advantage  for  every  prize  of  profit  or 
distinction  which  the  wide  circle  of  an  empire  extended  through  every 
quarter  of  the  globe  can  include. 

Bear  in  mind,  too,  that  every  improvement  in  the  means  of  commu- 
nication betwen  distant  parts  of  that  empire  is  pointing  out  a  new  avenue 
to  fame,  particularly  to  those  who  are  remote  from  the  great  seat  of  gov- 
ernment. This  is  not  the  place  where  injustice  should  be  done  to  that 
mighty  discovery  which  is  effecting  a  daily  change  in  the  pre-existing 
relations  of  society.  It  is  not  within  the  college  of  Glasgow  that  a  false 
and  injurious  estimate  should  be  made  of  the  results  of  the  speculations 
of  Black  and  of  the  inventive  genius  of  Watt.  The  steam  engine  and  the 
railroad  are  not  merely  facilitating  the  transport  of  merchandise,  they  are 
not  merely  shortening  the  duration  of  journeys,  or  administering  to  the 
supply  of  physical  wants.  They  are  speeding  the  intercourse  between 
mind  and  mind  ;  they  are  creating  new  demands  for  knowledge ;  they  are 


528  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL 

fertilizing  the  intellect  as  well  as  the  material  waste ;  they  are  removing 
the  impediments  which  obscurity,  or  remoteness,  or  poverty,  may  have 
heretofore  opposed  to  the  emerging  of  real  merit. 

They  are  supplying  you,  in  the  mere  facility  of  locomotion,  with  a 
new  motive  for  classical  study.  They  are  enabling  you  with  comparative 
ease  to  enjoy  that  pure  and  refined  pleasure  which  makes  the  past  pre- 
dominate over  the  present,  when  we  stand  upon  the  spots  where  the 
illustrious  deeds  of  ancient  times  have  been  performed,  and  meditate  on 
monuments  that  are  associated  with  names  and  actions  that  can  never 
perish.  They  are  offering  to  your  lips  the  intoxicating  draught  that  is 
described  with  such  noble  enthusiasm  by  Gibbon  :  "At  the  distance  of 
twenty-five  years  I  can  neither  forget  nor  express  the  strong  emotions 
which  agitated  my  mind  as  I  first  approached  and  entered  the  Eternal 
City.  After  a  sleepless  night  I  trod  with  a  lofty  step  the  ruins  of  the 
Forum  ;  each  memorable  spot  where  Romulus  stood,  or  Tully  spoke,  or 
Caesar  fell,  was  at  once  present  to  my  eye  ;  and  several  days  of  intoxica- 
tion were  lost  or  enjoyed  before  I  could  descend  to  a  cool  or  minute 
investigation."  .... 

By  every  motive  which  can  influence  a  reflecting  and  responsive 
being, — **  a  being  of  large  discourse,  looking  before  and  after," — by  the 
memory  of  the  distinguished  men  who  have  shed  a  lustre  on  these  walls  ; 
by  regard  for  your  own  success  and  happiness  in  this  life  ;  by  the  fear  of 
future  discredit ;  by  the  hope  of  lasting  fame  ;  by  all  these  considerations 
do  I  conjure  you,  while  you  have  yet  time,  while  your  minds  are  yet  flexible, 
to  form  them  on  the  models  which  approach  the  nearest  to  perfection. 
Sursum  corda  !  By  motives  yet  more  urgent ;  by  higher  and  purer  aspira- 
tions ;  by  the  duty  of  obedience  to  the  will  of  God ;  by  this  awful 
account  you  will  have  to  render,  not  merely  of  moral  actions,  but  of  facul- 
ties intrusted  to  you  for  improvement ;  by  these  high  arguments  do  I 
conjure  you  so  "to  number  your  days  that  you  may  apply  your  hearts 
unto  wisdom  " — unto  that  wdsdom  which,  directing  your  ambition  to  the 
noble  end  of  benefiting  mankind,  and  teaching  you  humble  reliance  on 
the  merits  and  on  the  mercy  of  your  Redeemer,  may  support  you  ' '  in  the 
time  of  your  tribulation ;  ' '  may  admonish  you  * '  in  the  time  of  your 
wealth  ;  "  and  "  in  the  hour  of  death,  and  in  the  day  of  judgment,"  may 
comfort  you  with  the  hope  of  deliverance. 


11 


LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL  (t  7924  878) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  REFORM 


GREATEST  among  the  advocates  of  parliamentary  reform,  year 
after  year  Lord  John  Russell  made  motions  in  Parliament  for 
— "^  the  suppression  of  "rotten  boroughs,"  at  first  exciting  the  con- 
tempt of  the  Conservatives,  and  afterward  their  dismay,  for  he  was 
the  principal  author  of  the  great  Reform  Bill  of  1830,  which,  after  a 
light  which  was  little  short  of  a  revolution,  became  a  law  in  1832. 
All  his  life  Russell  was  a  persistent  Whig,  and  a  thorn  in  the  side  of 
the  Tories.  In  1845  he  became  an  advocate  of  the  repeal  of  the  Corn 
Laws,  and  was  called  to  the  office  of  Prime  Minister  in  1846,  holding 
office  till  1852.  In  1865  he  was  again  called  to  this  position,  with 
Gladstone  as  one  of  his  principal  colleagues,  and  again  brought  in  a 
Reform  Bill — destined  to  be  defeated  then,  but  to  bring  about  a  great 
increase  in  the  suffrage  two  years  later.  As  an  orator  Russell  played 
a  prominent  part,  his  political  speeches  being  numerous  and  import- 
ant. 

THE  '^ ROTTEN  BOROUGHS''  OF  ENGLAND 

[Various  references  have  been  made  in  this  work  to  the  great  reform  movement 
of  1830-32,  and  it  has  just  been  said  that  Ivord  Russell  was  one  of  the  most  persistent 
advocates  of  reform.  Some  fuller  account  of  the  state  of  affairs  is  here  in  place. 
During  the  preceding  two  centuries  there  had  been  great  changes  in  the  distribution 
of  population  in  Kngland,  but  the  distribution  of  seats  in  Parliament  remained  the 
same.  Flourishing  towns  had  decayed,  and  ancient  boroughs  had  become  practically 
extinct,  yet  they  were  still  represented  in  Parliament.  "Pocket  boroughs"  these 
were  called,  and  were  well  named,  since  their  membership  was  practically  in  the 
pocket  of  the  owner  of  the  land,  who  could  give  it  to  whom  he  pleased.  On  the  other 
hand,  great  manufacturing  cities  had  sprung  up,  whose  hundreds  of  thousands  of  peo- 
ple did  not  send  a  single  member  to  Parliament.  This  was  the  desperately  corrupt 
system  against  which  Russell  vigorously  protested,  and  which  he  earnestly  sought  to 
reform.  We  give  his  picturesque  description  of  the  state  of  affairs  from  a  speech  by 
him  in  183 1. 

34  529 


630  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

A  Stranger  who  was  told  that  this  country  was  unparalleled  in  wealth 
and  industry,  and  more  civilized  and  enlightened  than  any  country  was 
before  it ;  that  it  is  a  country  which  prides  itself  upon  its  freedom,  and 
which  once  in  seven  years  elects  representatives  from  its  population  to 
act  as  the  guardians  and  preservers  of  that  freedom — would  be  anxious 
and  curious  to  see  how  that  representation  is  formed,  and  how  the  people 
choose  their  representatives. 

Such  a  person  would  be  very  much  astonished  if  he  were  to  be  taken 
to  a  ruined  mound,  and  told  that  that  mound  sent  two  representatives  to 
Parliament ;  if  he  were  taken  to  a  stone  wall,  and  told  that  these  niches  in  it 
sent  two  representatives  to  Parliament ;  if  he  were  taken  to  a  park,  where 
no  houses  were  to  be  seen,  and  told  that  that  park  sent  two  representatives 
to  Parliament.  But  he  would  be  still  more  astonished  if  he  were  to  see 
large  and  opulent  towns,  full  of  enterprise  and  industry,  and  intelligence, 
containing  vast  magazines  of  every  species  of  manufacture,  and  were  then 
told  that  those  towns  sent  no  representatives  to  Parliament. 

Such  a  person  would  be  still  more  astonished  if  he  were  taken  to 
lyiverpool,  where  there  is  a  large  constituency,  and  told,  **  Here  you  will 
have  a  fine  example  of  a  popular  election. ' '  He  would  see  bribery 
employed  to  the  greatest  extent,  and  in  the  most  unblushing  manner  ;  he 
would  see  every  voter  receiving  a  number  of  guineas  in  a  bag  as  the  price 
of  his  corruption  ;  and  after  such  a  spectacle  he  would  be,  no  doubt,  much 
astonished  that  a  nation,  whose  representatives  are  thus  chosen,  could  per- 
form the  functions  of  legislation  at  all,  or  enjoy  respect  in  any  degree. 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  LITERARY  STUDY 

[Of  Russell's  speeches  aside  from  politics,  one  of  the  most  interesting  is  his 
address  at  the  Leeds  Mechanics  Institute  in  1852.  The  following  selection  is  taken 
from  this  fine  oration.] 

I  will  now  turn  for  a  short  time  to  the  subject  of  literature.  That 
subject  again  is  so  vast  that  if  I  were  to  attempt  to  go  over  any  one  of  its 
numerous  fields  I  should  not  find  the  time  sufficient  to  enable  me  to  do 
so  ;  but  there  is  one  leading  remark  which  I  will  venture  to  make,  and 
which,  I  think,  it  is  worth  while  for  any  person  who  studies  literature  to 
keep  in  view.  There  are  various  kinds  of  productions  of  literature,  of 
very  diffierent  forms,  and  of  very  different  tastes  ;  some  grave  and  some 
gay,  some  of  extreme  fancy,  some  rigorously  logical,  but  all,  as  I  think, 
demanding  this  as  their  quality,  that  truth  shall  prevail  in  them.  A 
French  author  has  said  that  nothing  is  beautiful  but  truth  ;  that  truth 
alone  is  lovely,  but  that  truth  ought  to  prevail  even  in  fable.  I  believe 
that  remark  is  perfectly  correct ;    and  I  believe  that  you   cannot  use  a 


i 


LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL  531 

better  test,  even  of  works  of  imagination,  than  to  see  whether  they  be  true 
to  nature.  Now,  perhaps  I  can  better  explain  what  I  mean  in  this  respect 
by  giving  you  one  or  two  instances,  than  I  should  be  able  to  do  by  precept 
and  explanation. "  A  poet  of  very  great  celebrity  in  the  last  century,  and 
who  certainly  was  a  poet  distinguished  for  much  fancy  and  great  power  of 
pathos,  but  who  had  not  the  merit  of  being  always  as  true  as  he  is  pointed 
in  the  poetry  he  has  written, — I  mean  Young, — has  said,  at  the  com- 
mencement, I  think,  of  one  of  his  "  Nights  "  •     , 

"  Sleep,  like  the  world,  his  ready  visit  pays 
Where  Fortune  smiles  ;  the  wretched  he  forsakes, 
And  lights  on  lids  unsullied  with  a  tear." 

Now,  if  you  will  study  that  sentence,  you  will  see  there  are  two 
things  which  the  poet  has  confounded  together.  He  has  confounded 
together  those  who  are  fortunate  in  their  peace  of  mind,  those  who  are 
fortunate  in  the  possession  of  health,  and  those  who  are  fortunate  in 
worldly  advantages.  Now,  it  frequently  happens  that  the  man  who  is 
worst  off  in  his  worldly  circumstances,  to  whom  the  world  will  pay  no 
homage,  on  whom  it  would  not  be  said  that  Fortune  smiled,  enjoys  sweeter 
and  more  regular  sleep  than  those  who  are  in  the  possession  of  the  high- 
est advantages  of  rank  and  wealth.  You  will  all  remember  no  doubt,  that 
in  a  passage  I  need  not  quote,  another  poet,  one  always  true  to  nature, 
Shakespeare,  has  described  the  shipboy  amidst  the  storm,  notwithstanding 
all  the  perils  of  his  position  on  the  mast,  as  enjoying  a  quiet  sleep,  while 
he  describes  the  king  as  unable  to  rest.  That  is  the  poet  true  to  nature  ; 
and  you  will  thus,  by  following  observations  of  this  kind,  by  applying 
that  test  to  poetry  as  well  as  to  history  and  to  reasoning,  obtain  a  correct 
judgment  as  to  whether  what  you  are  reading  is  really  worth  your  atten- 
tion and  worth  your  admiration,  or  whether  it  is  faulty  and  is  not  so 
deserving. 

I  may  give  another  instance,  and  I  could  hardly  venture  to  do  so  if 
my  friend  and  your  friend,  Lord  Carlisle,  were  here,  because  the  want  of 
truth  I  am  going  to  point  out  is  in  the  writings  of  Pope.  There  is  a  very 
beautiful  ode  of  Horace,  in  which,  exalting  the  merits  of  poetry,  he  says 
that  many  brave  men  lived  before  Agamemnon  ;  that  there  were  many 
L;reat  sieges  before  the  siege  of  Troy  ;  that  before  Achilles  and  Hector 
existed,  there  were  brave  men  and  great  battles  ;  but  that,  as  they  had  no 
ipoet,  they  died,  and  that  it  required  the  genius  of  poetry  to  give  immortal 
xistence  to  the  bravery  of  armies  and  of  chiefs.  Pope  has  copied  this 
jde  of  Horace,  and  in  some  respects  has  well  copied  and  imitated  it  in 
j^ome  lines  which  certainly  are  worthy  of  admiration,  beginning  : 


532  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

*'  Lest  you  should  think  that  verse  shall  die, 
Which  sounds  the  silver  Thames  along." 

But  in  the  instances  which  he  gives  he  mentions  Newton,  and  says  that 
not  only  brave  men  had  lived  and  fought,  but  that  other  Newtons  ' '  sys- 
tems fram'd."  Now,  here  he  has  not  kept  to  the  merit  and  truth  of  his 
original ;  for,  though  it  may  be  quite  true  that  there  were  distinguished 
armies  and  wonderful  sieges,  and  that  their  memory  has  passed  into  obliv- 
ion, it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  any  man  like  Newton  followed  by  mathe- 
matical roads  the  line  of  discovery,  and  that  those  great  truths  which  he 
discovered  should  have  perished  and  fallen  into  oblivion. 

I  give  you  these  two  instances  of  want  of  truth  even  in  celebrated] 
poets,  and  I  think  it  is  a  matter  you  will  do  well  to  keep  in  view,  because! 
there  is  a  remarkable  difference  between  the  history  of  science  and  the! 
history  of  literature.     In  the  history  of  science  the  progress  of  discovery] 
is  gradual.     Those  who  make  these  discoveries  sometimes  commit  great 
errors.     They  fall  into  many  absurd  mistakes,  of  which  I  could  give  you] 
numerous  instances ;  but  these  blunders  and  these  errors  disappear — the 
discoveries  alone  remain  ;  other  men  afterwards  make  these  discoveries] 
the  elements  and  groundwork  of  new  investigations,  and  thus  the  progress 
of  science  is  continual ;  but  truth  remains,  the  methods  of  investigation] 
even  are  shortened,  and  the  progress  continually  goes  on. 

But  it  is  not  so  with  regard  to  literature.  It  has,  indeed,  happened] 
often  in  the  history  of  the  world,  among  nations  that  have  excelled  in 
literature,  after  great  works  had  been  produced  which  brought  down  the 
admiration  of  all  who  could  read  them,  that  others,  attempting  to  go  fur- 
ther,— attempting  to  do  something  still  better, — have  produced  works 
written  in  the  most  affected  and  unnatural  style,  and,  instead  of  promoting 
literature,  have  corrupted  the  taste  of  the  nation  in  which  they  lived.  Now, 
this  is  a  thing  against  which  I  think  we  should  always  be  upon  our  guard, 
and,  having  those  great  models  of  literature  which  we  possess  before  us, 
—having  Shakespeare,  and  Milton,  and  Pope,  and  a  long  list  of  illustrious 
poets  and  authors, — we  should  always  study  to  see  that  the  literature  of 
the  day  is,  if  not  on  a  par  with,  at  least  as  pure  in  point  of  taste  as  that 
which  has  gone  before  it,  and  to  take  care  that  we  do  not,  instead  of  advanc- 
ing in  letters,  fall  back  and  decay  in  the  productions  of  the  time. 


RICHARD  LALOR  SHEIL  (J 793- J 851) 

IRISH  DRAMATIST  AND  ORATOR 


i 


|M0NG  the  famous  orators  of  Irish  birth  and  inspired  by  Irish 
patriotism  must  be  named  Richard  Lalor  Sheil,  a  native  of 
-Dublin  and  a  friend  and  associate  of  O'Connell,  whom  he 
most  nearly  approached  in  oratory.  Elected  to  Parliament  in  1829, 
ho  soon  became  conspicuous  there  for  his  brilliant  eloquence.  He  was 
made  Master  of  the  Mint  in  Russell's  Cabinet  of  1846,  and  was  British 
Minister  at  Florence  in  1850.  As  an  orator,  his  enunciation  was 
quick  and  impetuous,  his  gesture  rapid  and  continuous,  while  his 
^^•ealth  of  illustration  and  unrivalled  power  in  the  use  of  words  held 
spell-bound  all  who  heard  him. 

IRISH  ALIENS  AND  ENGLISH  VICTORIES 

[Shell's  most  brilliant  speech,  and  one  of  the  most  eloquent  known  in  British 
oratory,  was  instigated  by  an  expression  made  by  Lord  Lyndhurst  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  in  which  he  spoke  of  the  Irish  as  "aliens,  in  blood  and  religion."  Sheil  took 
the  opportunity  to  reply,  while  speaking,  February  22,  1837,  on  the  Irish  Municipal 
Bill.     Never  had  the  House  of  Commons  heard  a  finer  burst  of  indignant  oratory.l 

I  should  be  surprised,  indeed,  if,  while  you  are  doing  us  wrong,  you 
did  not  profess  your  solicitude  to  do  us  justice.  From  the  day  on  which 
Strongbow  set  his  foot  upon  the  shore  of  Ireland,  Englishmen  were  never 
wanting  in  protestations  of  their  deep  anxiety  to  do  us  justice  ;  even  Straf- 
ford, the  deserter  of  the  People's  cause, — the  renegade  Wentworth,  who 
gave  evidence  in  Ireland  of  the  spirit  of  instinctive  tyranny  which  predom- 
inated in  his  character, — even  Strafford,  while  he  trampled  upon  our 
: rights,  and  trod  upon  the  heart  of  the  country,  protested  his  solicitude  to 
do  justice  to  Ireland  !  What  marvel  is  it,  then,  that  gentlemen  opposite 
should  deal  in  such  vehement  protestations  ?  There  is,  however,  one  man, 
of  great  abilities, — not  a  member  of  this  House,  but  whose  talents  and 

533 


534  RICHARD    LALOR   SHEIL 

whose  boldness  have  placed  him  in  the  topmost  place  in  his  party, — who, 
disdaining  all  imposture,  and  thinking  it  the  best  course  to  appeal  directly 
to  the  religious  and  national  antipathies  of  the  people  of  this  country; 
abandoning  all  reserve,  and  flinging  off  the  slender  veil  by  which  his 
political  associates  affect  to  cover,  although  they  cannot  hide,  their 
motives  ;  dislinctly  and  audaciously  tells  the  Irish  people  that  they  are 
not  entitled  to  the  same  privileges  as  Englishmen  ;  and  pronounces  them, 
in  any  particular  which  could  enter  his  minute  enumeration  of  the  cir- 
cumstances by  which  fellow-citizenship  is  created,  in  race,  identity  and 
religion,  to  be  aliens  : — to  be  aliens  in  race,  to  be  aliens  in  country,  aliens 
in  religion  !  Aliens  !  good  God  !  was  Arthur,  Duke  of  Wellington,  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  and  did  he  not  start  up  and  exclaim :    "  Hold  !    I 

HAVE  SEKN  THE  ALIENS  DO  THEIR  DUTY  ?  ' ' 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  is  not  a  man  of  an  excitable  temperament. 
His  mind  is  of  a  cast  too  martial  to  be  easily  moved  ;  but,  notwithstand- 
ing his  habitual  inflexibility,  I  cannot  help  thinking  that,  when  he  heard 
his  Roman  Catholic  countrymen  (for  we  are  his  countrymen)  designated 
by  a  phrase  as  offensive  as  the  abundant  vocabulary  of  his  eloquent  con- 
federate could  supply, — I  cannot  help  thinking  that  he  ought  to  have 
recollected  the  many  fields  of  fight  in  which  we  have  been  contributors  to 
his  renown. 

''The  battles,  sieges,  fortunes  that  he  has  passed,"  ought  to  have 
come  back  upon  him.  He  ought  to  have  remembered  that,  from  the  ear- 
liest achievement  in  which  he  displayed  that  military  genius  which  has 
placed  him  foremost  in  the  annals  of  modern  warfare,  down  to  that  last 
and  surpassing  combat  which  has  made  his  name  imperishable, — from 
Assaye  to  Waterloo, — the  Irish  soldiers,  with  whom  your  armies  are  filled, 
were  the  inseparable  auxiliaries  to  the  glory  with  which  his  unparalleled 
successes  have  been  crowned. 

Whose  were  the  arms  that  drove  your  bayonets  at  Vimiera  through 
the  phalanxes  that  never  reeled  in  the  shock  of  war  before  ?  What  des- 
perate valor  climbed  the  steeps  and  filled  the  moats  at  Badajos  ? 

All  his  victories  should  have  rushed  and  crowded  back  upon  his 
memory — Vimiera,  Badajos,  Salamanca,  Albuera,  Toulouse,  and,  last  of 

all,  the  greatest .     Tell  me, — for  you  were  there, — I  appeal  to  the 

gallant  soldier  before  me  (Sir  Henry  Hardinge) ,  from  whose  opinions 
differ,  but  who  bears,  I  know,  a  generous  heart  in  an  intrepid  breast ; 
tell  me, — for  you  must  needs  remember, — on  that  day  when  the  destinies 
of  mankind  were  trembling  in  the  balance,  while  death  fell  in  showers, 
when  the  artillery  of  France  was  levelled  with  a  precision  of  the  most 
deadly  science ;  when    her  legions,  incited  by  the  voice  and  inspired  by 


he 

4 


1 


RICHARD    LALOR  SHEIL  535 

the  example  of  their  mighty  leader,  rushed  again  and  again  to  the  onset, 
— tell  me  if,  for  an  instant,  when  to  hesitate  for  an  instant  was  to  be  lost, 
the  ' '  aliens  ' '  blenched  ? 

And  when,  at  length,  the  moment  for  the  last  and  decided  movement 
had  arrived,  and  the  valor  which  had  so  long  been  wisely  checked  was,  at 
last,  let  loose, — when,  with  words  familiar,  but  immortal,  the  great  cap- 
tain commanded  the  great  assault, — tell  me  if  Catholic  Ireland  with  less 
heroic  valor  than  the  natives  of  this  your  own  glorious  country  precipi- 
tated herself  upon  the  foe  ? 

The  blood  of  England,  Scotland,  and  of  Ireland  flowed  in  the  same 
stream,  and  drenched  the  same  field.  When  the  chill  morning  dawned, 
their  dead  lay  cold  and  stark  together  ;  in  the  same  deep  pit  their  bodies 
were  deposited ;  the  green  corn  of  spring  is  now  breaking  from  their 
commingled  dust ;  the  dew  falls  from  heaven  upon  their  union  in  the 
grave.  Partakers  in  every  peril,  in  the  glory  shall  we  not  be  permitted  to 
participate ;  and  shall  we  be  told,  as  a  requital,  that  we  are  estranged 
from  the  noble  country  for  whose  salvation  our  life  blood  was  poured  out? 

THE  HORRORS  OF  CIVIL  WAR 

War  in  Ireland  would  be  worse  than  civil.  A  demon  would  take 
possession  of  the  nation's  heart,— every  feeling  of  humanity  would  be 
extinguished, — neither  to  sex  nor  to  age  would  mercy  be  given.  The 
country  would  be  deluged  with  blood  ;  and  when  that  deluge  had  subsided, 
it  would  be  a  sorry  consolation  to  a  British  statesman,  when  he  gazed 
upon  the  spectacle  of  desolation  which  Ireland  would  then  present  to  him, 
that  he  beheld  the  spires  of  your  Established  Church  still  standing  secure 
amidst  the  desert  with  which  they  would  be  encompassed.  You  have 
adjured  us,  in  the  name  of  the  oath  which  we  have  sworn  on  the  gospel 
of  God, — I  adjure  you,  in  the  name  of  every  precept  contained  in  that 
holy  book  ;  in  the  name  of  that  religion  which  is  the  perfection  of  human- 
ity ;  in  the  name  of  every  obligation,  divine  and  human  ;  as  you  are  men 
and  Christians,  to  save  my  country  from  those  evils  to  which  I  point,  and 
to  remember,  that  if  you  shall  be  the  means  of  precipitating  that  country 
into  perdition,  posterity  will  deliver  its  great  finding  against  you,  and  that 
you  will  not  only  be  answerable  to  posterity,  but  responsible  to  that  Judge, 
in  whose  presence,  clothed  with  the  blood  of  civil  warfare,  it  will  be  more 
than  dreadful  to  appear. 


THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY 
(J 800- J 859) 

THE  BRILLIANT  ORATOR,  HISTOIUAN  AND  ESSAYIST 


mHE  whole  story  of  Macaulay's  life  is  too  broad  for  us  to  detail 
here^  our  concern  being  simply  with  his  record  as  an  orator. 
Whatever  he  touched  he  adorned.  There  are  no  essays  with 
the  glowing  charm  of  those  of  Macaulay.  There  is  no  history  which 
holds  its  readers  so  entranced.  There  are  no  poems  with  the  gal- 
loping swing  of  his  "  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome "  and  his  ''  Battle  of 
Ivory/'  and  in  oratory  his  marvelous  power  in  the  use  of  language  is 
equally  displayed.  While  a  student  at  Cambridge  he  won  distinc- 
tion as  an  orator,  and  on  entering  Parliament  in  1830  he  fulfilled  the 
highest  expectations  of  his  friends.  His  speeches  on  the  Reform  Bill 
and  on  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  East  India  Company  were 
among  the  finest  examples  of  his  powers.  His  rapidity  of  speech,  how- 
ever, detracted  from  the  effect  of  his  orations,  and  they  are  among 
those  that  are  more  effective  when  read  than  they  were  in  delivery. 
Of  his  style  as  writer  and  orator  it  is  said,  "  Its  characteristics  are 
vigor,  animation,  copiousness,  clearness,  above  all,  sound  English, 
now  a  rare  excellence." 

SUPERFICIAL  KNOWLEDGE 

[We  cannot  offer  a  more  interesting  example  of  Macaulay's  oratorical  style  and 
method  of  handling  than  in  the  following  extract  from  the  speech  delivered  by  him  at 
the  opening  of  the  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Institute,  in  1846.  Its  lucid  picturing  of 
the  superficiality  of  all  human  knowledge  is  marked  by  his  most  effective  lucidity 
and  interest  of  statement  and  charm  of  manner.] 

Some  men,  of  whom  I  wish  to  speak  with  great  respect,  are  haunted, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  with  an  unreasonable  fear  of  what  they  call  superficial 
knowledge.     Knowledge,  they  say,  which  really  deserves  the  name,  is  a 
536 


THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY  637 

great  blessing  to  mankind,  the  ally  of  virtue,  the  harbinger  of  freedom. 
But  such  knowledge  must  be  profound.  A  crowd  of  people  who  have  a 
smattering  of  mathematics,  a  smattering  of  astronomy,  a  smattering  of 
chemistry,  who  have  read  a  little  poetry  and  a  little  history,  is  dangerous 
to  the  commonwealth.  Such  half  knowledge  is  worse  than  ignorance. 
And  then  the  authority  of  Pope  is  vouched  :  "  Drink  deep  or  taste  not  ;'* 
shallow  drafts  intoxicate  ;  drink  largely  and  that  will  sober  you.  I  must 
confess  that  the  danger  which  alarms  these  gentlemen  never  seemed  to  me 
very  serious  ;  and  my  reason  is  this,  that  I  never  could  prevail  upon  any 
person  who  pronounced  superficial  knowledge  a  curse  and  profound  knowl- 
edge a  blessing  to  tell  me  what  was  his  standard  of  profundity.  The 
argument  proceeds  on  the  supposition  that  there  is  some  line  between  pro- 
found and  superficial  knowledge  similar  to  that  which  separates  truth 
from  falsehood,  I  know  of  no  such  line.  When  we  talk  of  men  of  deep 
science,  do  we  mean  that  they  have  got  to  the  bottom  or  near  the  bottom  of 
science  ?  Do  we  mean  that  they  know  all  that  is  capable  of  being  known  ? 
Do  we  mean  even  that  they  know,  in  their  own  special  department, 
all  that  the  smatterers  of  the  next  generation  will  know  ?  Why,  if  we 
compare  the  little  truth  that  we  know  with  the  infinite  mass  of  truth 
which  we  do  not  know,  we  are  all  shallow  together,  and  the  greatest  philo- 
sophers that  ever  lived  would  be  the  first  to  confess  their  shallowness.  If 
we  could  call  up  the  first  of  human  beings,  if  we  could  call  up  Newton 
and  ask  him  whether,  even  in  those  sciences  in  which  he  had  no  rival,  he 
considered  himself  as  profoundly  knowing,  he  would  have  told  us  that  he 
was  but  a  smatterer  like  ourselves  and  that  the  difference  between  his 
knowledge  and  ours  vanished  when  compared  with  the  quantity  of  truth 
still  undiscovered,  just  as  the  distance  between  a  person  at  the  foot  of 
Ben  Lomond  and  one  at  the  top  of  Ben  Lomond  vanishes  when  compared 
with  the  distance  of  the  fixed  stars. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  those  who  are  afraid  of  superficial  knowledge, 

do  not  mean  by  superficial  knowledge  knowledge  which  is  superficial 

when  compared  with  the  whole  quantity  of  truth  capable  of  being  known. 

For,  in  that  sense,  all  human  knowledge  is,  and  always  has  been,  and 

always  must  be,   superficial.     What,  then,  is  the   standard  ?     Is  it  the 

same  two  years  together  in  any  country  ?     Is  it  the  same,  at  the  same 

moment,  in  any  two  countries  ?     Is  it  not  notorious  that  the  profundity  of 

I  one  nation  is  the  shallowness  of  a  neighboring  nation  ?     Ramohun  Roy 

[passed,  among  Hindoos,  for  a  man  of  profound  Western  learning  ;  but  he 

\  would  have  been  but  a  very  superficial  member  of  this  institute.     Strabo 

I  was  justly   entitled  to  be  called  a  profound   geographer   eighteen   hun- 

jdred  years  ago ;  but   a  teacher  of  geography  who  had  never  heard  of 


538  THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY 

America  would  now  be  laughed  at  by  the  girls  of  a  boarding  school. 
What  would  now  be  thought  of  the  greatest  chemist  of  1746  or  of  the 
greatest  geologist  of  1746  ?  The  truth  is  that,  in  all  experimental  science, 
mankind  is,  of  necessity,  constantly  advancing.  Every  generation,  of 
course,  has  its  front  rank  and  its  rear  rank  ;  but  the  rear  rank  of  a  later 
generation  occupies  the  ground  which  was  occupied  by  the  front  rank  of 
a  former  generation. 

You  remember  Gulliver's  adventures.  First  he  is  shipwrecked  in  a 
country  of  little  men,  and  he  is  a  Colossus  among  them.  He  strides  over 
the  walls  of  their  capital ;  he  stands  higher  than  the  cupola  of  their  great 
temple  ;  he  tugs  after  him  a  royal  fleet ;  he  stretches  his  legs,  and  a  royal 
army,  with  drums  beating  and  colors  flying,  marches  through  the  gigantic 
arch ;  he  devours  a  whole  granary  for  breakfast,  eats  a  herd  of  cattle  for 
dinner,  and  washes  down  his  meal  with  all  the  hogsheads  of  a  cellar.  In 
his  next  voyage  he  is  among  men  sixty  feet  high.  He  who  in  Lilliput 
used  to  take  people  up  in  his  hand  in  order  that  he  might  be  able  to  hear 
them,  is  himself  taken  up  in  the  hands  and  held  to  the  ears  of  his  masters. 
It  is  all  that  he  can  do  to  defend  himself  with  his  hanger  against  the  rats 
and  mice.  The  court  ladies  amuse  themselves  with  seeing  him  fight  wasps 
and  frogs  ;  the  monkey  runs  off  with  him  to  the  chimney  top  ;  the  dwarf 
drops  him  into  the  cream  jug  and  leaves  him  to  swim  for  his  life.  Now, 
was  Gulliver  a  tall  or  a  short  man  ?  Why,  in  his  own  house  at  Rother- 
hithe,  he  was  thought  a  man  of  the  ordinary  stature.  Take  him  to  Lilli- 
put,  and  he  is  Quinbus  Flestrin,  the  Man  Mountain.  Take  him  to  Brob- 
dingnag,  and  he  is  Grildig,  the  little  Manikin.  It  is  the  same  in  science. 
The  pigmies  of  one  society  would  have  passed  for  giants  in  another. 

It  might  be  amusing  to  institute  a  comparison  between  one  of  the 
profoundly  learned  men  of  the  thirteenth  century  and  one  of  the  superficial 
students  who  will  frequent  our  library.     Take  the  great  philosopher  of] 
the  time  of  Henry  III.  of  England,  or  Alexander  III.  of  Scotland,  the  manj 
renowned  all  over  the  island,  and  even  as  far  as  Italy  and  Spain,  as  th< 
first  of  astronomers  and  chemists.     What  is  his  astronomy  ?     He  is  a  fin 
believer  in  the  Ptolemaic  system.     He  never  heard  of  the  law  of  gravita- 
tion.    Tell  him  that  the  succession  of  day  and  night  is  caused  by  the' 
turning  of  the  earth  on  its  axis.     Tell  him  that  in  consequence  of  this 
motion,  the  polar  diameter  of  the  earth  is  shorter  than  the  equatorial  dia- 
meter.    Tell  him  that  the  succession  of  summer  and  winter  is  caused  bs^i 
the  revolution  of  the  earth  round  the  sun.     If  he  does  not  set  you  dowgBI 
for  an  idiot,  he  lays  an  information  against  you  before  the  Bishop  and  has     ' 
you  burned  for  a  heretic.     To  do  him  justice,  however,  if  he  is  ill-informed 
on  these  points,  there  are  other  points  on  which  Newton  and   L<aplace 


il 


THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY  539 

were  mere  children  when  compared  with  him.  He  can  cast  your 
nativity.  He  knows  what  will  happen  when  Saturn  is  in  the  House  of 
Life,  and  what  will  happen  when  Mars  is  in  conjunction  with  the  Drag- 
on's Tail.  He  can  read  in  the  stars  whether  an  expedition  will  be  suc- 
cessful ;  whether  the  next  harvest  will  be  plentiful ;  which  of  your 
children  will  be  fortunate  in  marriage,  and  which  will  be  lost  at  sea. 
Happy  the  State,  happy  the  family,  which  is  guided  by  the  counsels  of  so 
profound  a  man  !  And  what  but  mischief,  public  and  private,  can  we 
expect  from  the  temerity  and  conceit  of  sciolists  who  know  no  more 
about  the  heavenly  bodies  than  what  they  have  learned  from  Sir  John 
Herschel's  beautiful  little  volume  ?  But,  to  speak  seriously,  is  not  a  little 
truth  better  than  a  great  deal  of  falsehood  ?  Is  not  the  man  who,  in  the 
evenings  of  a  fortnight,  has  acquired  a  correct  notion  of  the  solar  system, 
a  more  profound  astronomer  than  the  man  who  has  passed  thirty  years  in 
reading  lectures  about  the  primum  mobile,  in  drawing  schemes  of  horo- 
scopes ? 

As  it  has  been  in  science,  so  it  has  been  in  literature.  Compare  the 
literary  acquirements  of  the  thirteenth  century  with  those  which  will  be 
within  the  reach  of  many  who  will  frequent  our  reading  room.  As  to 
Greek  learning,  the  profound  man  of  the  thirteenth  century  was  absolutely 
on  a  par  with  the  superficial  man  of  the  nineteenth.  In  the  modern 
languages,  there  was  not,  six  hundred  years  ago,  a  single  volume  which 
is  now  read.  The  library  of  our  profound  scholar  must  have  consisted 
entirely  of  Latin  books.  We  will  suppose  him  to  have  had  both  a  large 
and  a  choice  collection.  We  will  allow  him  thirty,  nay  forty  manuscripts, 
and  among  them  a  Virgil,  a  Terence,  a  Lucan,  an  Ovid,  a  Statins,  a  great 
deal  of  Livy,  a  great  deal  of  Cicero.  In  allowing  him  all  this,  we  are 
dealing  most  liberally  with  him  ;  for  it  is  much  more  likely  that  his 
shelves  were  filled  with  treatises  on  school  divinity  and  canon  law,  com- 
posed by  writers  whose  names  the  world  has  very  wisely  forgotten.  But 
even  if  we  suppose  him  to  have  possessed  all  that  is  most  valuable  in  the 
literature  of  Rome,  I  say  with  perfect  confidence  that,  both  in  respect  of 
intellectual  improvement  and  in  respect  of  intellectual  pleasures,  he  was 
far  less  favorably  situated  than  a  man  who  now,  knowing  only  the  Eng- 
lish language,  has  a  bookcase  filled  with  the  best  English  works.  Our 
great  men  of  the  Middle  Ages  could  not  form  a  conception  of  any  tragedy 
approaching  ''  Macbeth  '*  or  '*  Lear,**  or  of  any  comedy  equal  to  '*  Henry 
IV."  or  '*  Twelfth  Night.*'  The  best  epic  poem  that  he  had  read  was 
far  inferior  to  the  * '  Paradise  Lost :  "  and  all  the  tomes  of  his  philosophers 
were  not  worth  a  page  of  the  **  Novum  Organum.** 


RICHARD  COBDEN  (1 804-1 865) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  FREE  TRADE 


mT  was  the  contest  against  the  Corn  Laws — which,  by  imposing  a 
high  duty  on  imported  grain,  greatly  increased  the  cost  of  food 
in  England,  favoring  the  land-holding  gentry  at  the  expense 
of  the  poor — that  made  Richard  Cobden  famous.  Conservatism,  and 
the  political  influence  of  the  gentry,  preserved  these  laws  with  little 
change,  and  Cobden  was  the  first  to  make  a  determined  assault  upon 
them.  In  1839  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League  was  formed,  with  him  for 
its  principal  champion  and  orator.  Elected  to  Parliament  in  1841,  he 
kept  up  the  fight  actively  and  earnestly  in  the  House  and  before  the 
people,  with  the  result  that  the  obnoxious  laws  were  repealed  in  1846. 
An  able  orator  and  a  born  reformer,  Mr.  Cobden  was  a  powerful  ally 
of  Bright  and  Gladstone  in  their  Liberal  campaign.  He  favored 
electoral  reform,  vote  by  ballot,  and  a  pacific  foreign  policy,  and  was 
the  author,  in  1860,  of  an  important  commercial  treaty  with  France, 
which  greatly  increased  the  trade  between  the  two  countries. 

THE  GENTRY  AND  THE  PROTECTIVE  SYSTEM 

[From  Cobden 's  many  eloquent  speeches  on  the  subject  of  his  great  free-corn 
conflict,  we  select  the  following  example,  in  which  he  clearly  points  out  to  the  land- 
holders of  England  the  selfish  character  of  their  course,  and  the  perils  they  ran  in 
opposing  the  demand  for  cheap  food  from  the  great  industrial  population.] 

I  tell  you  that  this  "  Protection,"  as  it  has  been  called,  is  a  failure. 
It  was  so  when  you  had  the  prohibition  up  to  So^.  You  know  the  state 
of  your  farming  tenantry  in  182 1.  It  was  a  failure  when  you  had  a  pro- 
tection price  of  60^.;  for  you  know  what  was  the  condition  of  your  fan 
tenantry  in  1835.  It  is  a  failure  now  with  your  last  amendment,  for  yoi 
have  admitted  and  proclaimed  it  to  us  ;  and  what  is  the  condition  of  yot 
agricultural  population  at  this  time  ?  I  ask.  what  is  your  plan  ?  I  hoj 
540 


RICHARD  COBDEN  541 

it  is  not  a  pretense  ;  a  mere  political  game  that  has  been  played  through- 
out the  last  election,  and  that  you  have  not  all  come  up  here  as  mere  politi- 
cians. There  are  politicians  in  the  House ;  men  who  look  with  an 
ambition — probably  a  justifiable  one — to  the  honors  of  oflSce.  There  may 
be  men  who,  with  thirty  years  of  continuous  service, — ^^having  been  pressed 
into  a  groove  from  which  they  can  neither  escape  nor  retreat, — may  be 
holding  ofl&ce,  high  ofl&ce,  maintained  there,  probably,  at  the  expense  of 
their  present  convictions,  which  do  not  harmonize  very  well  with  their 
early  opinions.  I  make  allowances  for  them  ;  but  the  great  body  of  the 
honorable  gentlemen  opposite  came  up  to  this  House,  not  as  politicians, 
but  as  the  farmers'  friends,  and  protectors  of  the  agricultural  interests. 
Well,  what  do  you  propose  to  do  ?  You  have  heard  the  Prime  Minister 
declare  that,  if  he  could  restore  all  the  protection  which  you  have  had, 
that  protection  would  not  benefit  agriculturists.  Is  that  your  belief?  If 
so,  why  not  proclaim  it?  and  if  it  is  not  your  conviction,  you  will  have 
falsified  your  mission  in  this  House,  by  following  the  right  honorable 
baronet  out  into  the  lobby,  and  opposing  inquiry  into  the  condition  of  the 
very  men  who  sent  you  here. 

With  mere  politicians  I  have  no  right  to  expect  to  succeed  in  this 
motion.     But  I  have  no  hesitation  in  telling  you  that,  if  you  give  me  a 

i  committee  of  this  House,  I  will  explode  the  delusion  of  agricultural  pro- 
tection.     I  will  bring  forward  such  a  mass  of  evidence,  and  give  you  such 

\  a  preponderance  of  talent  and  of  authority,  that  when  the  Blue- Book  is 
published  and  sent  forth  to  the  world,  as  we  can  now  send  it,  by  our  vehi- 
cles of  information,  your  system  of  protection  shall  not  live  in  public 
opinion  for  two  years  afterward.  Politicians  do  not  want  that.  This  cry 
of  protection  has  been  a  very  convenient  handle  for  politicians.  The  cry 
of  protection  carried  the  counties  at  the  last  election,  and  politicians 
gained  honors,  emoluments,  and  place  by  it.  But  is  that  old  tattered  flag 
of  protection,  tarnished  and  torn  as  it  is  already,  to  be  kept  hoisted  still 
in  the  counties  for  the  benefit  of  politicians  ;  or  will  you  come  forward 
honestly  and  fairly  to  inquire  into  this  question  ?  I  cannot  believe  that 
the  gentry  of  England  will  be  made  mere  drumheads  to  be  sounded  upon 
by  a  Prime  Minister  to  give  forth  unmeaning  and  empty  sounds,  and  to 
have  no  articulate  voice  of  their  own.  No  !  You  are  the  gentry  of  Eng- 
land, who  represent  the  counties.  You  are  the  aristocracy  of  England. 
Your  fathers  led  our  fathers  ;  you  may  lead  us  if  you  will  go  the  right  way. 
But,  although  you  have  retained   your  influence  with  this  country  longer 

tthan  any  other  aristocracy,  it  has  not  been  by  opposing  popular  opinion, 
or  by  setting  yourselves  against  the  spirit  of  the  age. 
In  other  days,  when  the  battle  and  the  hunting-fields  were  the  tests 


642  RICHARD  COBDEN 

of  manly  vigor,  your  fathers  were  first  and  foremost  there.  The  aristoc- 
racy of  England  were  not  like  the  noblesse  of  France,  the  mere  minions 
of  a  court ;  nor  were  they  like  the  hidalgos  of  Madrid,  who  dwindled 
into  pigmies.  You  have  been  Englishmen.  You  have  not  shown  a  want 
of  courage  and  firmness  when  any  call  has  been  made  upon  you.  This 
is  a  new  era.  It  is  the  age  of  improvement,  it  is  the  age  of  social 
advancement ;  not  the  age  for  war  or  for  feudal  sports.  You  live  in  a 
mercantile  age,  when  the  whole  wealth  of  the  world  is  poured  into  your 
lap.  You  cannot  have  the  advantages  of  commercial  rents  and  feudal 
privileges  ;  but  you  may  be  what  you  always  have  been,  if  you  will  identify 
yourselves  with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  The  English  people  look  to  the 
gentry  and  aristocracy  of  their  country  as  their  leaders.  I,  who  am  not 
one  of  you,  have  no  hesitation  in  telling  you  that  there  is  a  deep-rooted, 
an  hereditary  prejudice,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  in  your  favor  in  this  country. 
But  you  never  got  it,  and  you  will  not  keep  it,  by  obstructing  the  spirit  of 
the  age.  If  you  are  indifferent  to  enlightened  means  of  finding  employ- 
ment to  your  own  peasantry  ;  if  you  are  found  obstructing  that  advance 
which  is  calculated  to  knit  nations  more  together  in  the  bonds  of  peace  by 
means  of  commercial  intercourse ;  if  you  are  found  fighting  against  the 
discoveries  which  have  almost  given  breath  and  life  to  material  nature, 
and  setting  up  yourselves  as  obstructives  of  that  which  destiny  has  decreed 
shall  go  on, — why,  then,  you  will  be  the  gentry  of  England  no  longer,  and 
others  will  be  found  to  take  your  place. 

And  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  you  stand  just  now  in  a  very 
critical  position.  There  is  a  wide-spread  suspicion  that  you  have  been 
tampering  with  the  best  feelings  and  with  the  honest  confidence  of  your 
constituents  in  this  cause.  Everywhere  you  are  doubted  and  suspected. 
Read  your  own  organs,  and  you  will  see  that  this  is  the  case.  Well,  then,  H 
this  is  the  time  to  show  that  you  are  not  the  mere  party  politicians  which 
you  are  said  to  be.  I  have  said  that  we  shall  be  opposed  in  this  measure 
by  politicians  ;  tbey  do  not  want  inquiry.  But  I  ask  you  to  go  into  this 
committee  with  me.  I  will  give  you  a  majority  of  county  members. 
You  shall  have  a  majority  of  the  Central  Society  in  that  committee.  I 
ask  you  only  to  go  into  a  fair  inquiry  as  to  the  causes  of  the  distress 
of  your  own  population.  I  only  ask  that  this  matter  be  fairly  examined. 
Whether  you  establish  my  principle  or  yours,  good  will  come  out  of  the 
inquiry  ;  and  I  do,  therefore,  beg  and  entreat  the  honorable  independent 
country  gentlemen  of  this  House  that  they  will  not  refuse,  on  this  occa- 
sion  to  go  into  a  fair,  a  full,  and  an  impartial  inquiry. 


BENJAMIN  DISRAELI  (1 8054 88 J) 

GLADSTONE'S  RIVAL  IN  ORATORY  AND  OFnCE 


I  T,  In  speaking  of  Disraeli  as  a  rival  of  Gladstone  in  oratory,  it  is 
I  I  I  meant  only  to  indicate  that  these  distinguished  men  came  fre- 
quently  into  conflict  in  speech-making,  not  that  there  was  any 
equality  or  resemblance  between  them  as  orators.  As  one  writer  says 
of  Disraeli,  "  In  almost  every  thing  he  was  the  very  opposite  of  his 
great  adversary,  Mr.  Gladstone.  He  was  a  master  of  epigram,  a  splen- 
did debater,  rather  than  an  orator ;  he  possessed  that  first-rate  requi- 
site of  statecraft,  lack  of  zeal.''  His  maiden  speech  was  not  wanting 
in  cleverness,  yet  was  so  lame  in  delivery  that  it  was  greeted  in 
Parliament  with  shouts  of  laughter.  He  cried  out  in  response,  *'I  have 
begun  several  things  many  times,  and  have  often  succeeded  at  last ; 
ay,  and  though  I  sit  down  now,  the  time  will  come  when  you  will 
hear  me."  The  time  indeed  came.  Before  many  years  he  was  a 
prominent  debater  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  leading  Con- 
servative orator  in  the  Corn  Law  agitation,  while  by  his  talent  as  a 
speaker  and  his  spirit  and  persistency  under  defeat  he  compelled  the 
admiration  of  his  opponents.  From  1868  onward  he  was  the  rival  of 
Gladstone  for  the  highest  office  under  the  British  Government.  In 
that  year  he  became  Prime  Minister,  and  alternated  with  Gladstone 
in  this  post  of  honor  and  power  till  his  death,  his  terms  of  Premier- 
ship being  1868  to  1869,  and  from  1874  to  1880.  Many  of  the  great 
questions  of  public  policy  and  the  management  of  the  Empire  were 
beforo  parliament  and  in  their  discussions  Disraeli  shone  as  a  speaker 
of  rare  powers.  In  1875  he  conferred  on  the  Queen  the  title  of  Empress 
of  India,  and  was  himself  rewarded  by  the  rank  of  Earl  of  Beaconsfield. 
In  addition  to  his  parliamentary  labors,  he  found  time  to  devote  him- 
self somewhat  to  literature,  writing  several  novels  which  attracted  much 

543 


544  BENJAMIN  DISRAELI 

attention  at  the  time,  alike  from  their  literary  power  and  their  author- 
ship. While  out  of  office  in  1870  he  wrote  his  novel  of  "Lothair/'  a 
work  which  was  very  widely  read,  and  was  exposed  to  much  severe 
criticism. 

THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 

[The  question  of  electoral  reform  and  extension  of  the  suffrage,  which  had  been 
so  prominent  in  England  about  1830,  was  renewed  at  a  later  date,  being  supported  by 
Gladstone  and  Russell,  and  opposed  by  Disraeli  and  Derby.  Yet  in  1867,  finding  that 
the  people  were  thoroughly  in  earnest,  Disraeli  changed  front  suddenly,  posed  as  a 
reformer,  and  brought  in  a  suffrage  reform  bill  which  conceded  all  that  Gladstone  had 
demanded,  giving  the  right  to  vote  to  every  householder  in  a  borough,  every  forty- 
shilling  freeholder,  etc.  He  had  shrewdly  accepted  that  which  he  had  bitterly 
opposed  before.  We  give  some  of  his  reasons  for  opposing  suffrage,  from  a  speech 
made  by  him  in  1864. 1 

That  tremendous  reckless  opposition  to  the  right  honorable  gentle- 
man, which  allowed  the  bill  to  be  read  the  second  time,  seems  to  have  laid 
the  Government  prostrate.  If  he  had  succeeded  in  throwing  out  the  bill, 
the  right  honorable  gentleman  and  his  friends  would  have  been  relieved 
fiom  great  embarrassment.  But  the  bill,  having  been  read  a  second  time, 
the  Government  were  quite  overcome,  and  it  appears  they  never  have 
recovered  from  the  paralysis  up  to  this  time.  The  right  honorable  gentle- 
man was  good  enough  to  say  that  the  proposition  of  his  Government  was 
rather  coldly  received  upon  his  side  of  the  House,  but  he  said  "  nobody 
spoke  against  it."  Nobody  spoke  against  the  bill  on  this  side,  but  I 
remember  some  most  remarkable  speeches  from  the  right  honorable  gen- 
tleman's friends.  There  was  the  great  city  of  Edinburgh,  represented  by 
acute  eloquence  of  which  we  never  weary,  and  which  again  upon  the 
present  occasion  we  have  heard  ;  there  was  the  great  city  of  Bristol,  repre- 
sented on  that  occasion  among  the  opponents,  and  many  other  constitu- 
encies of  equal  importance. 

But  the  most  remarkable  speech,  which  ''killed  cock  robin,"  was 
absolutely  delivered  by  one  who  might  be  described  as  almost  a  member  of 
the  Government — the  chairman  of  ways  and  means  (Mr.  Massey,)  who  I 
believe,  spoke  from  immediately  behind  the  Prime  Minister.  Did  the  Gov- 
ernment express  any  disapprobation  of  such  conduct  ?  They  have  pro- 
moted him  to  a  great  post,  and  have  sent  him  to  India  with  an  income  of 
fabulous  amount.  And  now  they  are  astonished  they  cannot  carry  a 
Reform  Bill.  If  they  removed  all  those  among  their  supporters  who  oppose 
such  bills  by  preferring  them  to  posts  of  great  confidence  and  great  lucre, 
how  can  they  suppose  that  they  will  ever  carry  one  ?  I^ooking  at  the 
policy  of  the  Government,  I  am  not  at  all  astonished  at  the  speech  which 


ii 


BENJAMIN  DISRAELI  545 

the  right  honorable  gentleman,  the  Secretary  of  State,  has  made  this  even- 
ing. Of  which  speech  I  may  observe,  that  although  it  was  remarkable 
for  many  things,  yet  there  were  two  conclusions  at  which  the  right  honor- 
able gentleman  arrived.  First,  the  repudiation  of  the  rights  of  man,  and 
next,  the  repudiation  of  the  £^  franchise.  The  first  is  a  great  relief;  and 
— remembering  what  the  feeling  of  the  House  was  only  a  year  ago,  when, 
by  the  dangerous  but  fascinating  eloquence  of  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  we  were  led  to  believe  that  the  days  of  Tom  Paine  had  returned, 
and  that  Rousseau  was  to  be  rivaled  by  a  new  social  contract — it  must  be 
a  great  relief  to  every  respectable  man  here  to  find  that  not  only  are  we 
not  to  have  the  rights  of  man,  but  we  are  not  even  to  have  the  1862  fran- 
chise  

But  I  think  it  is  possible  to  increase  the  electoral  body  of  the  country 
by  the  introduction  of  voters  upon  principles  in  unison  with  the  principles 
of  the  constitution,  so  that  the  suffrage  should  remain  a  privilege,  and 
not  a  right — a  privilege  to  be  gained  by  virtue,  by  intelligence,  by  indus- 
try, by  integrity,  and  to  be  exercised  for  the  common  good  of  the  country. 
I  think  if  you  quit  that  ground  ;  if  you  once  admit  that  every  man  has  a 
right  to  vote  whom  you  cannot  prove  to  be  disqualified  ;  you  would  change 
the  character  of  the  constitution,  and  you  would  change  it  in  a  manner 
which  will  tend  to  lower  the  importance  of  this  country.  Between  the 
scheme  we  brought  forward,  and  the  measure  brought  forward  by  the 
honorable  member  of  I^eds,  and  the  inevitable  conclusion  which  its 
principal  supporters  acknowledge  it  must  lead  to,  it  is  a  question  between 
an  aristocratic  government  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term — that  is,  a 
government  by  the  best  men  of  all  classes — and  a  democracy.  I  doubt 
very  much  whether  a  democracy  is  a  government  that  would  suit  this 
country  ;  and  it  is  just  as  well  that  the  House,  when  coming  to  a  vote  on 
this  question,  should  really  consider  if  that  be  the  real  issue  between 
retaining  the  present  constitution — not  the  present  constitutional  body, — 
but  between  the  present  constitution  and  a  democracy. 

It  is  just  as  well  for  the  House  to  recollect  that  what  is  of  issue  is  of 
some  price.  You  must  remember,  not  to  use  the  word  profanely,  that  we 
are  dealing  really  with  a  peculiar  people.  There  is  no  country  at  the 
present  moment  that  exists  under  the  circumstances  and  under  the  same 
conditions  as  the  people  of  this  realm .  You  have,  for  example,  an  ancient, 
powerful,  richly -endowed  Church  ;  and  perfect  religious  liberty.  You 
.have  unbroken  order  and  complete  freedom.  You  have  estates  as  large  as 
the  Romans.  You  have  a  commercial  system  of  enterprise  such  as  Car- 
thage and  Venice  united  never  equalled.  And  you  must  remember  that  this 
peculiar  country,  with  these  strong  contrasts,  is  governed  not  by  force; 
35 


646  BENJAMIN  DISRAELI 

it  is  not  governed  by  standing  armies  ;  it  is  governed  by  a  most  singular 
series  of  traditionary  influences,  which  generation  after  generation  cherishes 
and  preserves  because  they  know  that  they  embalm  customs  and  represent 
the  law.  And,  with  this,  what  have  you  done  ?  You  have  created  the 
greatest  empire  that  ever  existed  in  modern  times.  You  have  amassed  a 
capital  of  fabulous  amount ;  you  have  devised  and  sustained  a  system  of 
credit  still  more  marvelous ;  and,  above  all,  you  have  established  and 
maintained  a  scheme  so  vast  and  complicated,  of  labor  and  industry,  that 
the  history  of  the  world  offers  no  parallel  to  it.  And  all  these  mighty 
creations  are  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  essential  and  indigenous  elements 
and  resources  of  the  country.  If  you  destroy  that  state  of  society,  remem- 
ber this — England  cannot  begin  again. 

There  are  countries  which  have  been  in  great  peril  and  gone  througl 
great  suffering.  There  are  the  United  States,  which  in  our  own  immedi- 
ate day  have  had  great  trials.  You  have  had — perhaps  even  now  in  th^ 
States  of  America  you  have — a  protracted  and  fratricidal  civil  war  whici 
has  lasted  for  four  years.  But  if  it  lasted  for  four  years  more,  vast  aj 
would  be  the  disaster  and  desolation ,  when  ended  the  United  States  migh 
begin  again,  because  the  United  States  would  be  only  in  the  same  condi 
tion  that  England  was  at  the  end  of  the  War  of  the  Roses,  when  probably 
she  had  not  even  3,000,000  of  population,  with  vast  tracts  of  virgin  sot 
and  mineral  treasures,  not  only  undeveloped,  but  undiscovered.  Thei 
you  have  France.  France  had  a  real  revolution  in  our  days  and  those  on 
our  predecessors — a  real  revolution,  not  merely  a  political  and  social  revo- 
lution. You  had  the  institutions  of  the  country  uprooted,  the  orders  of 
society  abolished — you  had  even  the  landmarks  and  local  names  removed 
and  erased.  But  France  could  begin  again.  France  had  the  greatest 
spread  of  the  most  exuberant  soil  in  Europe  ;  she  had,  and  always  had, 
a  very  limited  population,  living  in  a  most  simple  manner.  France, 
therefore,  could  begin  again.  But  England — the  England  we  know,  the 
England  we  live  in,  the  England  of  which  we  are  proud — could  not  begin 
again.  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  after  great  troubles  England  would 
become  a  howling  wilderness.  No  doubt  the  good  sense  of  the  people 
would  to  some  degree  prevail,  and  some  fragments  of  the  national  char- 
acter would  survive  ;  but  it  would  not  be  the  old  England — the  England 
of  power  and  tradition,  of  credit  and  capital,  that  now  exists.  That  is 
not  in  the  nature  of  things,  and,  under  these  circumstances,  I  hope  the 
House  will,  when  the  question  before  us  is  one  impeaching  the  character 
of  our  constitution,  sanction  no  step  that  has  a  preference  for  democracy, 
but  that  they  will  maintain  the  ordered  state  of  free  England  in  which  we 
live. 


I 


WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE  (J 8094 898) 

ENGLAND'S   PEERLESS  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  ORATOR 


THE  history  of  Gladstone  falls  little  short  of  being  the  history  of 
England  in  the  nineteenth  century.  From  1830  onward  to 
— ^  near  the  end  of  the  century  no  public  question  arose  on  which 
he  had  not  something  of  weight  and  moment  to  say,  and  from  the 
middle  of  the  century  to  his  death  he  was  a  controlling  power  in  very 
much  of  the  important  legislation  that  took  place.  It  was  his  unri- 
valled power  as  an  orator,  his  superb  statesmanship,  and  his  earnest 
labors  for  the  best  interests  of*  the  British  people  that  gave  him  this 
supremacy  ;  while  in  the  closing  years  of  his  life  Ireland  hailed  him 
as  her  champion  in  the  long-sought-for  cause  of  Home  Rule. 

Gladstone  was  a  man  of  immense  mental  activity.  The  intervals 
between  his  rarely  ending  parliamentary  labors  were  filled  with  busy 
authorship.  But  his  fame  will  rest  on  his  record  as  statesman  and 
orator,  and  especially  his  work  for  moral  progress  and  practical  reform. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  name  any  other  British  minister  with  so  long 
and  successful  a  record  in  practical  and  progressive  legislation.  As  a 
parliamentary  debater  he  never  had  a  superior — it  is  doubtful  if  he 
ever  had  an  equal — in  his  country's  history.  Gifted  with  an  exqui- 
site voice — sweet,  powerful,  penetrating,  vibrating  to  every  emotion — 
his  long  training  in  the  House  of  Commons  developed  his  natural 
gifts  to  the  fullest  extent.  His  fluency  was  great — almost  too  exu- 
berant, since  his  eloquence  often  carried  him  to  too  great  lengths — 
but  his  hearers  never  seemed  to  tire  of  listening.  He  takes  rank, 
indeed,  as  one  of  the  greatest  orators,  and  we  may  say  distinctively 
the  greatest  debater  that  the  British  Parliament  has  ever  known. 

As  respects  Gladstone's  deep  sympathy  with  all   mankind,  we 
may  instance  his  passionate  arraignment  in  1851,  of  the  shameful 

547 


548  WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE 

cruelties  of  the  King  of  Naples,  and  at  a  later  date  of  the  terrible  Turk- 
ish barbarities  in  Bulgaria.  These  are  two  instances  of  the  warm  feel- 
ing that  inspired  him  on  a  hundred  occasions  during  his  career. 

WARFARE  AND  COLONIZATION 

[Of  Gladstone's  oratory  we  might  select  innumerable  striking  examples.  But 
leaving  his  parliamentary  speeches,  we  make  the  following  extract  from  the  speech  of 
November  i,  1865,  at  the  City  Hall,  Glasgow,  on  the  presentation  to  him  of  the  freedom 
of  that  city.  Many  look  on  this  as  the  most  representative  example  of  his  eloquence. 
We  choose  that  portion  of  it  in  which  he  makes  war  and  its  effects  his  theme.] 

It  is  quite  unnecessary  before  this  audience — I  may  venture  to  say  it  is 
unnecessary  before  any  audience  of  my  countrymen — to  dwell  at  this  per- 
iod of  our  experience  upon  the  material  benefits  that  have  resulted  from 
free  trade,  upon  the  enormous  augmentation  of  national  power  which  it 
has  produced,  or  even  upon  the  increased  concord  which  it  has  tended  so 
strongly  to  promote  throughout  the  various  sections  of  the  community. 
But  it  is  the  characteristic  of  the  system  which  we  so  denominate,  that  while 
it  comes  forward  with  homely  pretensions,  and  professes,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  address  itself  mainly  to  questions  of  material  and  financial 
interests,  yet,  in  point  of  fact,  it  is  fraught  and  charged  throughout  with 
immense  masses  of  moral,  social,  and  political  results.  I  will  not  no^ 
speak  to  the  very  large  measure  of  those  results  which  are  domestic,  bu^ 
I  would  ask  you  to  consider  with  me  for  a  few  moments  the  effect  of  th« 
system  of  unrestricted  intercourse  upon  the  happiness  of  the  human  familj 
at  large. 

Now,  as  far  as  that  happiness  is  connected  with  the  movements 
nations,  war  has  been  its  great  implement.     And  what  have  been  thegre 
causes  of  wars  ?  They  do  not  come  upon  the  world  by  an  inevitable  neces-* 

sity,  or  through  a  providential  visitation.     They  are  not  to  be  compared 

with  pestilences  and  famines  even — in  that  respect,  though,  we  hav^Hj 
learned,  and  justly  learned,  that  much  of  what  we  have  been  accustome^T 
to  call  providential  visitation  is  owing  to  our  neglect  of  the  wise  and  pru- 
dent means  which  man  ought  to  find  in  the  just  exercise  of  his  faculties 
for  the  avoidance  of  calamity — but  with  respect  to  wars,  they  are  the  direct 
and  universal  consequence  of  the  unrestricted,  too  commonly  of  the  un- 
bridled, passions  and  lusts  of  men. 

If  we  go  back  to  a  very  early  period  of  society,  we  find  a  state  of 
things  in  which,  as  between  one  individual  and  another,  no  law  obtained 
a  state  of  things  in  which  the  first  idea  almost  of  those  who  desired  toj 
better  their  condition  was  simply  to  better  it  by  the  abstraction  of  theii 
neighbor's  property.     In  the  early  periods  of  society,  piracy  and  unre 
strained  freebooting  among  individuals  were  what  wars,  for  the  most 


WILLIAM  WILBERFORCE 

The  name  of  Wilberforce  is  lovingly  associated  with  the  first 
efforts  to  suppress  African  slavery.  He  was  an  associate  of 
Fox,  Pitt  and  Burke  in  opposition  to  the  American  war. 


WILLIAM  EWART   GLADSTONE  549 

have  been  in  the  more  advanced  periods  of  human  history.  Why,  what 
is  the  case  with  a  war  ?  It  is  a  case  in  which  both  cannot  be  right,  but  in 
which  both  may  be  wrong.  I  believe  if  the  impartiality  of  the  historian 
survey  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  wars  that  have  desolated  the  world — 
some,  indeed,  there  may  be,  and  undoubtedly  there  have  been,  in  which 
the  arm  of  valor  has  been  raised  simply  for  the  cause  of  freedom  and  jus- 
tice— that  the  most  of  them  will  be  found  to  belong  to  that  less  satisfac- 
tory category  in  which  folly,  passion,  greediness,  on  both  sides,  have  led 
to  effects  which  afterwards,  when  too  late,  have  been  so  much  deplored. 

We  have  had  in  the  history  of  the  world  religious  wars.  The  period 
of  these  wars  I  trust  we  have  now  outlived.  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that 
there  was  not  quite  as  much  to  be  said  for  them  as  for  a  great  many  other 
wars  which  have  been  recorded  in  the  page  of  history.  The  same  folly 
which  led  to  the  one  led,  in  another  form,  to  the  other.  We  have  had 
dynastic  wars — wars  of  succession,  in  which,  for  long  periods  of  years, 
the  heads  of  rival  families  have  fought  over  the  bleeding  persons  of  their 
people,  to  determine  who  should  govern  them.  I  trust  we  have  overlived 
the  period  of  wars  of  that  class.  Another  class  of  wars,  of  a  more  dan- 
gerous and  yet  a  more  extensive  description,  have  been  territorial  wars. 
No  doubt  it  is  a  very  natural,  though  it  is  a  very  dangerous  and  a  very 
culpable  sentiment,  which  leads  nations  to  desire  their  neighbors'  prop- 
erty, and  I  am  very  sorry  to  think  that  we  have  had  examples — perhaps 
we  have  an  example  even  at  this  moment  before  our  eyes — to  show  that 
even  in  the  most  civilized  parts  of  the  world,  even  in  the  midst  of  the 
oldest  civilization  upon  the  continent  of  Europe,  that  thirst  for  territorial 
acquisition  is  not  yet  extinct. 

But  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  a  peculiar  form  in  which,  during 
the  latter  part  of  human  history,  this  thirst  for  territorial  acquisition 
became  an  extensive  cause  of  bloodshed.  It  was  when  the  colonizing 
power  took  possession  of  the  European  nations.  It  seems  that  the  world 
was  not  wide  enough  for  them.  One  would  have  thought,  upon  looking 
over  the  broad  places  of  the  earth,  and  thinking  how  small  a  portion  of 
them  is  even  now  profitably  occupied,  and  how  much  smaller  a  portion 
of  them  a  century  or  two  centuries  ago,  one  would  have  thought  there 
would  have  been  ample  space  for  all  to  go  and  help  themselves ;  but,  not- 
withstanding this,  we  found  it  necessary,  in  the  business  of  planting  col- 
onies, to  make  those  colonies  the  cause  of  bloody  conflicts  with  our 
neighbors  ;  and  there  was  at  the  bottom  of  that  policy  this  old  lust  of  ter- 
ritorial aggrandizement.  When  the  state  of  things  in  Europe  had  become 
so  far  settled  that  that  lust  could  not  be  as  freely  indulged  as  it  might  in 
|?arbarous  times,  we  then  carried  our  armaments  and  our  passions  across  the 


550  WILLIAM  EWART    GLADSTONE 

Atlantic,  and  we  fought  upon  American  and  other  distant  soils  for  the 
extension  of  our  territory. 

That  was  one  of  the  most  dangerous  and  plausible,  in  my  opinion,  of 
all  human  errors  ;  it  was  one  to  which  a  great  portion  of  the  wars  of  the 
last  century  was  due  ;  but  had  our  forefathers  then  known,  as  we  now 
know,  the  blessings  of  free  commercial  intercourse,  all  that  bloodshed 
would  have  been  spared.  For  what  was  the  dominant  idea  that  governed 
that  policy  ?  It  was  this,  that  colonizing,  indeed,  was  a  great  function  of 
European  nations,  but  the  purpose  of  that  colonization  was  to  reap  the 
profits  of  extensive  trade  with  the  colonies  which  were  founded,  and,  con- 
sequently, it  was  not  the  error  of  one  nation  or  another — it  was  the  error 
of  all  nations  alike.  It  was  the  error  of  Spain  in  Mexico,  it  was  the  error 
of  Portugal  in  Brazil,  it  was  the  error  of  France  in  Canada  and  Louisiana, 
it  was  the  error  of  England  in  her  colonies  in  the  West  Indies,  and  her 
possessions  in  the  East ;  and  the  whole  idea  of  colonization,  all  the  bene- 
fits of  colonization,  were  summed  up  in  this,  that  when  you  had  planted 
a  colony  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean,  you  were  to  allow  that  colony  to 
trade  exclusively  and  solely  with  yourselves.  But  from  that  doctrine  flowed 
immediately  all  those  miserable  wars,  because  if  people  believed,  as  they 
then  believed,  that  the  trade  with  colonies  must,  in  order  to  be  beneficial, 
necessarily  be  exclusive,  it  followed  that  at  once  there  arose  in  the  mind  of 
each  country  a  desire  to  be  possessed  of  the  colonies  of  other  countries,  in 
order  to  secure  the  extension  of  this  exclusive  trade. 

In  fact,  my  Lord  Provost,  I  may  say,  such  was  the  perversity  of  the 
misguided  ingenuity  of  man,^  that  during  the  period  to  which  I  refer  he 
made  commerce  itself,  which  ought  to  be  the  bond  and  link  of  the  human 
race,  the  cause  of  war  and  bloodshed,  and  wars  were  justified  both  here 
and  elsewhere — ^justified  when  they  were  begun,  and  gloried  in  when  they 
had  ended — upon  the  ground  that  their  object  and  effect  had  been  to  obtain 
from  some  other  nation  a  colony  which  previously  had  been  theirs,  but 
which  now  was  ours,  and  which,  in  our  folly,  we  regarded  as  the  sole 
means  of  extending  the  intercourse  and  the  industry  of  our  countrymen. 
Well,  now,  my  Lord  Provost,  that  was  a  most  dangerous  form  of  error,  and 
for  the  very  reason  that  it  seemed  to  abandon  the  old  doctrine  of  the  un- 
restricted devastation  of  the  world,  and  to  contemplate  a  peaceful  end  ;  but 
I  am  thankful  to  say  that  we  have  entirely  escaped  from  that  delusion 
may  be  that  we  do  not  wisely  when  we  boast  ourselves  over  our  fathe 
The  probability  is  that  as  their  errors  crept  in  unperceived  upon  them 
they  did  not  know  their  full  responsibility  ;  so  other  errors  in  directions 
as  yet  undetected  may  be  creeping  upon  us.  Modesty  bids  us  in  our 
comparison,  whether  with  other  ages  or  with  other  countries,  to  be  thankful 


1 


WILLIAM  EWART   GLADSTONE  651 

— at  least,  we  ought  to  be — for  the  downfall  of  every  form  of  error; 
and  determined  we  ought  to  be  that  nothing  shall  be  done  by  us  to  give 
countenance  to  its  revival,  but  that  we  will  endeavor  to  assist  those  less 
fortunate  than  ourselves  in  emancipating  themselves  from  the  like  delus- 
ions. I  need  not  say  that  as  respects  our  colonies,  they  have  ceased  to 
be — I  would  almost  venture  to  say  a  possible — at  any  rate,  they  have 
ceased  to  be  a  probable  cause  of  war,  for  now  we  believe  that  the  great- 
iiees  of  our  country  is  best  promoted  in  its  relations  with  our  colonies  by 
allowing  them  freely  and  largely  to  enjoy  every  privilege  that  we  possess 
ourselves  ;  and  so  far  from  grudging  it,  if  we  find  that  there  are  plenty 
of  American  ships  trading  with  Calcutta,  we  rejoice  in  it;  because  it  con- 
tributes to  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  our  Indian  empire,  and  we  are 
perfectly  assured  that  the  more  that  wealth  and  prosperity  are  promoted, 
the  larger  will  be  the  share  of  it  accruing  to  ourselves  through  the  legiti- 
mate operation  of  the  principles  of  trade. 

HOME  RULE  FOR  IRELAND 

[The  final  great  effort  of  Gladstone's  career  was  to  restore  to  Ireland  that  prin- 
ciple of  Home  Rnle, — the  privilege  of  making  its  own  laws  by  its  own  Parliament, — 
which  it  had  lost  in  1800.  It  was  this  he  undertook  when  he  returned  to  the 
premiership  in  1886,  and  which  he  succeeded  in  carrying  through  the  House  of  Com- 
mons in  1893,  just  before  his  final  retirement.  The  following  selection  is  from  a 
speech  made  in  Parliament  in  February,  1888.] 

We  have  evidence  before  us  to  show  that  as  regards  the  great  objects 
which  the  Government  have  had  in  view,  of  putting  down  the  National 
League  and  the  Plan  of  Campaign,  their  efforts  have  resulted  in  total 
failure.  Such  is  the  retrospect.  What  is  the  prospect?  There  are  many 
things  said  by  the  Government  in  debate  ;  but  I  never  heard  them  express 
a  confidence  that  they  will  be  able  to  establish  a  permanent  resistance  to 
the  policy  of  Home  Rule.  You  are  happily  free,  at  this  moment,  from 
the  slightest  shade  of  foreign  complications.  You  have,  at  this  moment, 
the  constitutional  assent  of  Ireland,  pledged  in  the  most  solemn  form,  for 
the  efiicacy  of  the  policy  which  I  am  considering.  But  the  day  may  come 
when  your  condition  may  not  be  so  happy.  I  do  not  expect,  any  more 
than  I  desire,  these  foreign  complications,  but  still  it  is  not  wise  to  shut 
them  wholly  out. 

What  I  fear  is  rather  this,  that  if  resistance  to  the  national  voice  of 
Ireland  be  pushed  too  far,  those  who  now  guide  the  mind  of  that  nation 
may  gradually  lose  their  power,  and  may  be  supplanted  and  displaced  by 
ruder  and  more  dangerous  spirits.  For  seven  hundred  years,  with  Ireland 
practically  unrepresented,  with  Ireland  prostrate,  with  the  forces  of  this 


662  WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE 

great  and  powerful  island  absolutely  united,  you  tried  and  failed  to  do 
that  which  you  are  now  trying  to  do,  with  Ireland  fully  represented  in 
your  Parliament,  with  Ireland  herself  raised  to  a  position  which  is  erect 
and  strong,  and  with  the  mind  of  the  people  so  devoted,  that,  if  you  look 
to  the  elections  of  the  last  twelve  months,  you  find  that  the  majority  of 
the  people  have  voted  in  favor  of  the  concession  of  Home  Rule. 

If  this  is  to  continue,  I  would  venture  to  ask  gentlemen,  opposite, 
under  such  circumstances  as  these,  and  with  the  experience  you  have,  is 
your  persistence  in  this  system  of  administration,  I  will  not  say  just,  but 
is  it  wise,  is  it  politic,  is  it  hopeful,  is  it  conservative?  Now,  at  length, 
bethink  yourselves  of  a  change,  and  consent  to  administer,  and  consent 
finally  to  legislate  for  Ireland  and  for  Scotland  in  conformity  with  the 
constitutionally  expressed  wishes  and  the  profound  and  permanent  convic- 
tions of  the  people  ;  and  ask  yourselves  whether  you  will  at  last  consent 
to  present  to  the  world  the  spectacle  of  a  truly  and  not  a  nominally  United 
Empire. 


JOHN  BRIGHT  (18114889) 

THE  FAMOUS  LIBERAL  ORATOR 


Tir|E  might  justly  call  John  Bright  the  great  Quaker  orator  and 
jf  1 1  statesman.  A  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in  religion, 
and  a  cotton  manufacturer  in  business,  he  found  time  to  take  a 
most  active  part  in  all  the  liberal  movements  of  his  day.  A  man  of 
the  warmest  sympathies  for  ther  poor  and  oppressed,  and  unflinching 
devotion  to  the  right  as  above  all  questions  of  political  expediency, 
he  was  the  right  hand  of  Gladstone  in  all  movements  for  reform,  and 
was  by  many  given  the  credit  of  being  his  superior  in  eloquence.  "  He 
is  endowed,"  says  the  Saturday  Review^  "  with  a  voice  that  can  dis- 
course most  eloquent  music,  and  with  a  speech  that  can  equally  sound 
the  depths  of  pathos  or  scale  the  heights  of  indignation." 

THE  CRUSHING  WEIGHT  OF  MILITARISM 

[We  cannot  offer  a  more  interesting  example  of  John  Bright's  eloquence  than  his 
earnest  arraignment  of  the  military  establishment  of  Great  Britain,  in  his  address  on 
the  Duties  of  Government,  at  Birmingham,  in  1858.  Under  its  satire  and  irony  there 
is  the  pathetic  note  of  deep  feeling  for  the  people,  crushed  to  earth  by  the  weight 
laid  on  them  by  the  advocates  of  military  conquest  and  glory.] 

We  all  know  and  deplore  that  at  the  present  moment  a  larger  number 
of  the  grown  men  of  Europe  are  employed,  and  a  larger  portion  of  the  indus- 
try of  Europe  is  absorbed,  to  provide  for  and  maintain  the  enormous 
armaments  which  are  now  on  foot  in  every  considerable  continental  State. 
Assuming,  then,  that  Europe  is  not  much  better  in  consequence  of  the 
sacrifices  we  have  made,  let  us  inquire  what  has  been  the  result  in  Eng- 
land, because,  after  all,  that  is  the  question  which  it  becomes  us  most  to 
consider.  I  believe  that  I  understate  the  sum  when  I  say  that,  in  pursuit 
of  this  will-' o '-the- wisp  (the  liberties  of  Europe  and  the  balance  of  power), 
there  has  been  extracted  from  the  industry  of  the  people  of  this  small 

553 


664  JOHN    BRIGHT 

island  no  less  an  amount  than  ;£ 2, 000,000,000.  I  cannot  imagine  how 
much  ;^ 2, 000, 000, 000  is,  and  therefore  I  shall  not  attempt  to  make  you 
comprehend  it. 

I  presume  it  is  something  like  those  vast  and  incomprehensible 
astronomical  distances  with  which  we  have  been  lately  made  familiar ; 
but  however  familiar  we  feel  that  we  do  not  know  one  bit  more  about  them 
than  we  did  before.  When  I  try  to  think  of  that  sum  of  ^2,000,000,000 
there  is  a  sort  of  vision  passes  before  my  mind's  eye.  I  see  your  peasant 
labor  delve  and  plough,  sow  and  reap,  sweat  beneath  the  summer's  sun,  or 
grow  prematurely  old  before  the  winter's  blast.  I  see  your  noble  mechanic 
with  his  manly  countenance  and  his  matchless  skill,  toiling  at  his  bench 
or  his  forge.  I  see  one  of  the  workers  in  our  factories  in  the  North,  a 
woman, — a  girl  it  may  be,  gentle  and  good,  as  many  of  them  are,  as  your 
sisters  and  daughters  are, — I  see  her  intent  upon  the  spindle,  whose 
revolutions  are  so  rapid  that  the  eye  fails  altogether  to  detect  them,  or  to 
watch  the  alternating  flight  of  the  unresting  shuttle.  I  turn  again  to 
another  portion  of  your  population,  which  '*  plunged  in  mines,  forgets  a 
sun  was  made,"  and  I  see  the  man  who  brings  up  from  the  secret  cham- 
bers of  the  earth  the  elements  of  the  riches  and  greatness  of  his  country. 
When  I  see  all  this  I  have  before  me  a  mass  of  produce  and  of  wealth 
which  I  am  no  more  able  to  comprehend  than  I  am  that  ;^ 2, 000, 000, 000 
of  which  I  have  spoken,  but  I  behold  in  its  full  proportions  the  hideous 
error  of  your  government,  whose  fatal  policy  consumes  in  some  cases  a 
half,  never  less  than  a  third,  of  all  the  results  of  that  industry  which  God 
intended  should  fertilize  and  bless  every  home  in  England,  but  the  fruits 
of  which  are  squandered  in  every  part  of  the  surface  of  the  globe,  without 
producing  the  smallest  good  to  the  people  of  England. 

We  have,  it  is  true,  some  visible  results  that  are  of  a  more  positive 
character.  We  have  that  which  some  people  call  a  great  advantage,  the 
national  debt, — a  debt  which  is  now  so  large  that  the  most  prudent,  the 
most  economical,  and  the  most  honest  have  given  up  all  hope,  not  of  its 
being  paid  off,  but  of  its  being  diminished  in  amount. 

We  have,  too,  taxes  which  have  been  during' many  years  so  onerous 
that  there  have  been  times  when  the  patient  beasts  of  burden  threatened 
to  revolt ;  so  onerous  that  it  has  been  utterly  impossible  to  levy  them 
with  any  kind  of  honest  equality,  according  to  the  means  of  the  people  to 
pay  them.  We  have  that,  moreover,  which  is  a  standing  wonder  to  all 
foreigners  who  consider  our  condition, — an  amount  of  apparently  immov- 
able pauperism  which  to  strangers  is  wholly  irreconcilable  with  the  fact 
that  we,  as  a  nation,  produce  more  of  what  would  make  us  all  comfortable 
than  is  produced  by  any  other  nation  of  similar  numbers  on  the  face  of  the 


JOHN  Bright  655 

globe.  lyCt  us  likewise  remember  that  during  the  period  of  those  great 
and  so-called  glorious  contests  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  every  descrip- 
tion of  home  reform  was  not  only  delayed,  but  actually  crushed  out  of  the 
minds  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  people.  There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever 
that  in  1793  England  was  about  to  realize  political  changes  and  reforms, 
such  as  did  not  appear  again  until  1830,  and  during  the  period  of  that 
war,  which  now  almost  all  men  agree  to  have  been  ^wholly  unnecessary,  we 
were  passing  through  a  period  which  may  be  described  as  the  dark  age  of 
English  politics  ;  when  there  was  no  more  freedom  to  write  or  speak,  or 
politically  to  act,  than  there  is  now  in  the  most  despotic  country  of 
Europe. 

The  more  you  examine  this  matter,  the  more  you  will  come  to  the  con- 
clusion which  I  have  arrived  at,  that  this  foreign  policy,  this  regard  for  the 
' '  liberties  of  Europe,' '  this  care  at  one  time  for  ' '  the  Protestant  interests," 
this  excessive  love  for  *'  the  balance  of  power,"  is  neither  more  nor  less 
than  a  gigantic  system  of  out-door  relief  for  the  aristocracy  of  Great 
Britain.  (Loud  laughter.)  I  observe  that  you  receive  that  declaration 
as  if  it  were  some  new  and  important  discovery.  In  18 15,  when  the  great 
war  with  France  was  ended,  every  Liberal  in  England  whose  politics, 
whose  hopes,  and  whose  faith  had  not  been  crushed  out  of  him  by  the 
tyranny  of  the  time  of  that  war,  was  fully  aware  of  this,  and  openly 
admitted  it;  and  up  to  1832,  and  for  some  years  afterward,  it  was  the 
fixed  and  undoubted  creed  of  the  great  Liberal  party.  But  somehow  all 
is  changed.  We  who  stand  upon  the  old  landmarks,  who  walk  in  the  old 
paths,  who  would  conserve  what  is  wise  and  prudent,  are  hustled  and 
shoved  about  as  if  we  were  come  to  turn  the  world  upside  down.  The 
change  which  has  taken  place  seems  to  confirm  the  opinion  of  a  lamented 
friend  of  mine,  who,  not  having  succeeded  in  all  his  hopes,  thought  that 
men  made  no  progress  whatever,  but  went  round  and  round  like  a  squirrel 
ill  a  cage 

I  believe  there  is  no  permanent  greatness  to  a  nation  except  it  be 
Ixised  upon  morality.  I  do  not  care  for  military  greatness  or  military 
renown.  I  care  for  the  condition  of  the  people  among  whom  I  live. 
There  is  no  man  in  England  who  is  less  likely  to  speak  irreverently  of  the 
Crown  and  Monarchy  of  England  than  I  am;  but  crowns,  coronets, 
mitres,  military  display,  the  pomp  of  war,  wide  colonies,  and  a  huge 
empire  are,  in  my  view,  all  trifles,  light  as  air,  and  not  worth  considering, 
unless  with  them  you  can  have  a  fair  share  of  comfort,  contentment,  and 
happiness  among  the  great  body  of  the  people.  Palaces,  baronial  castles, 
great  halls,  stately  mansions,  do  not  make  a  nation.  The  nation  in  every 
country  dwells  in  cottages  ;  and  unless  the  light  of  your  constitution  can 


656  JOHN  BRIGHT 

shine  there,  unless  the  beauty  of  your  legislation  and  the  excellence  of 
your  statesmanship  are  impressed  there  on  the  feeling&  and  condition  of 
the  people,  rely  upon  it,  you  have  yet  to  learn  the  duties  of  govern- 
ment.  .... 

The  most  ancient  of  profane  historians  has  told  us  that  the  Scythians 
of  his  time  were  a  very  warlike  people,  and  that  they  elevated  an  old 
scimeter  upon  a  platform  as  a  symbol  of  Mars ;  for  to  Mars  alone,  I 
believe,  they  built  altars  and  offered  sacrifices.  To  this  scimeter  they 
offered  sacrifices  of  horses  and  cattle,  the  main  wealth  of  the  country,  and 
more  costly  sacrifices  than  to  all  the  rest  of  their  gods.  I  often  ask  myself 
whether  we  are  at  all  advanced  in  one  respect  beyond  those  Scythians. 
What  are  our  contributions  to  charity,  to  education,  to  morality,  to  reli- 
gion, to  justice,  and  to  civil  government,  when  compared  with  the  wealth 
we  expend  in  sacrifices  to  the  old  scimeter  ? 

Two  nights  ago  I  addressed  in  this  hall  a  vast  assembly,  composed 
to  a  great  extent  of  your  countrymen  who  have  no  political  power,  who 
are  at  work  from  the  dawn  of  day  to  the  evening,  and  who  have,  there- 
fore, limited  means  of  informing  themselves  on  those  great  subjects. 
Now,  I  am  privileged  to  speak  to  a  somewhat  different  audience.  You- 
represent  those  of  your  great  community  who  have  a  more  complete  edu- 
cation, who  have  on  some  points  greater  intelligence,  and  in  whose  hands 
reside  the  power  and  influence  of  the  district.  I  am  speaking,  too,  within 
the  hearing  of  those  whose  gentle  nature,  whose  fine  instincts,  whose 
purer  minds,  have  not  suffered  as  some  of  us  have  suffered  in  the  turmoil 
and  strife  of  life.  You  can  mold  opinion,  you  can  create  political  power; 
—you  cannot  think  a  good  thought  on  this  subject  and  communicate  itj 
to  good  neighbors,  you  cannot  make  these  points  topics  of  discussion 
your  social  circles  and  more  general  meetings,  without  affecting  sensibl} 
and  speedily  the  course  which  the  government  of  your  country  wil 
pursue. 

May  I  ask  you  then  to  believe,  as  I  do  most  devoutly  believe,  that 
the  moral  law  was  not  written  for  men  alone  in  their  individual  character, 
but  that  it  was  written  as  well  for  nations,  and  for  nations  great  as  this  oj 
which  we  are  citizens.  If  nations  reject  and  deride  that  moral  law,  the! 
is  a  penalty  that  will  inevitably  follow.  It  may  not  come  at  once ;  i^ 
may  not  come  in  our  lifetime  ;  but  rely  upon  it,  the  great  Italian  is  not  a' 
poet  only,  but  a  prophet,  when  he  says  : 

"  The  sword  of  Heaven  is  not  in  haste  to  smite. 
Nor  yet  doth  linger," 


BISMARCK  GERMANY'S  GREAT  STATESMAN 

No  man  in  modern  history  stands  out  so  boldly  as  orator  and 
statesman  as  the  German  Prince  Bismarck.  This  picture  repre- 
sents him  delivering  an  address  to  the  German  Parliament. 


EMILIO  CASTELAR  SPANISH  ORATOR 

Distinguished  in  his  country  because  he  espoused  the  demo- 
cratic or  popular  cause.  He  was  considered  the  most  illustrious 
orator  of  his  time. 


CHARLES  STEWART  PARNELL  ( J 846- 1 89 J) 

THE  '^UNCROWNED  KDSTG^'  OF  IRELAND 


pT^HE  part  which  the  great  O'Connell  took  in  the  first  half  of  the 
I  I  I  nineteenth  century  as  the  "Liberator"  of  Ireland,  was  taken 
^  *  by  Charles  Parnell  in  the  last  half.  During  the  decade  from 
1880  to  1890,  when  the  questions  of  Irish  rights  and  Home  Rule 
lod  in  British  politics,  Parnell,  as  leader  of  the  Home  Rule  party,  was 
little  short  of  a  dictator  in  parliamentary  affairs.  Entering  Parlia- 
ment in  1875,  for  several  years  he  pursued  the  policy  of  obstruction 
with  an  audacity  that  caused  great  annoyance,  and  made  him  highly 
l»opular  at  home.  In  1880  the  method  of  "boycotting"  landlords 
and  agents  was  put  into  effect  by  him.  He  was  sent  to  jail  in  1881 
for  his  forcible  opposition  to  Gladstone's  methods  of  dealing  with  Ire- 
land, yet  in  1886,  when  Gladstone  began  to  work  earnestly  for  Home 
Rule,  Parnell  became  his  close  ally.  ParnelPs  power  vanished  in 
1  'S90  and  after,  as  the  result  of  a  divorce  suit  scandal,  and  soon  after- 
ward he  suddenly  died.  As  an  orator  Parnell  was  ready  and  forcible; 
less  fluent  and  rhetorical  than  his  famous  predecessor,  yet  with  much 
i)ower  of  his  own.  In  1880  he  traversed  the  United  States  as  Presi- 
iit  of  the  Irish  Land  League,  making  there  some  of  his  best  speeches, 
lie  collected  on  this  visit  $350,000  for  the  good  of  the  cause. 

EVICTION  AND  EMIGRATION 

[The  selection  here  given  is  from  Parnell 's  speech  of  March  4,  1880,  delivered  at 
St.  Ivouis,  during  his  tour  of  the  United  States.] 

I  thank  you  for  this  magnificent  meeting — a  splendid  token  of  your 
Isympathy  and  appreciation  for  the  cause  of  suflfering  Ireland.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that,  while  America,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  her  country,  does  her  very  utmost  to  show  her  sympathy  and  send  her 

557 


558  CHARLES  STEWART    PARNELL, 

practical  help  to  our  people ;  while  there  is  scarcely  any  hand  save  Amer- 
ica's between  the  starvation  of  large  masses  of  the  western  peasantry ; 
England  alone  of  almost  all  the  civilized  nations  does  scarcely  anything, 
although  close  behind  Ireland,  to  help  the  terrible  suffering  and  famine 
which  now  oppress  that  country.  I  speak  a  fact  when  I  say  that  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  help  which  has  gone  from  America  during  the  last  two 
months  among  these,  our  people  would  have  perished  ere  now  of  star-_ 
vation 

We  are  asked  :  '  *  Why  do  you  not  recommend  emigration  to  Amer- 
ica ?"  and  we  are  told  that  the  lands  of  Ireland  are  too  crowded.  They 
are  less  thickly  populated  than  those  of  any  civilized  country  in  tlu 
world ;  they  are  far  less  thickly  populated — the  rich  lands  of  Ireland— 
than  any  of  your  western  States.  It  is  only  on  the  barren  hillsides  o: 
Connemara  and  along  the  west  Atlantic  coast  that  we  have  too  thick 
population,  and  it  is  only  on  the  unfertile  lands  that  our  people  are  allowec 
to  live.  They  are  not  allowed  to  occupy  and  till  the  rich  lands ;  these 
rich  lands  are  retained  as  preserves  for  landlords,  and  as  vast  grazing  tract! 
for  cattle.  And  although  emigration  might  be  a  temporary  alleviation  o: 
the  trouble  in  Ireland,  it  would  be  a  cowardly  step  on  our  part ;  it  woulc 
be  running  away  from  our  difficulties  in  Ireland,  and  it  would  be  acknowl 
edgment  of  the  complete  conquest  of  Ireland  by  England,  an  acknowledg 
ment  which,  please  God,  Ireland  shall  never  make. 

No  !  we  will  stand  by  our  country,  and  whether  we  are  exterminatec 
by  famine  to-day,  or  decimated  by  English  bayonets  to-morrow,  the  people 
of  Ireland  are  determined  to  uphold  the  God-given  right  of  Ireland  to 
take  her  place  among  the  nations  of  the  world.  Our  tenantry  are  engaged 
in  a  struggle  of  life  and  death  with  the  Irish  landlords.  It  is  no  use  to 
attempt  to  conceal  the  issues  which  have  been  made  there.  The  landlords 
say  that  there  is  not  room  for  both  tenants  and  landlords ,  and  that  the  people 
must  go,  and  the  people  have  said  that  the  landlords  must  go.  But  it 
may — it  may,  and  it  undoubtedly  will — happen  in  this  struggle  that  some 
of  our  gallant  .tenantry  will  be  driven  from  their  homes  and  evicted.  In 
J;hat  case  we  will  use  some  of  the  money  you  are  entrusting  us  with  in  this 
country  for  the  purpose  of  finding  happier  homes  in  this  far  western  land 
for  those  of  our  expatriated  people,  and  it  will  place  us  in  a  position  of 
great  power,  and  give  our  people  renewed  confidence  in  their  struggle,  if 
they  are  assured  that  any  of  them  who  are  evicted  in  their  attempts  to 
stand  by  their  rights  will  get  one  hundred  and  fifty  good  acres  of  land  in 
Minnesota,  Illinois,  or  some  of  your  fine  Western  States. 

Now  the  cable  announces  to  us  to-day  that  the  Government  is  about 
to  attempt  to  renew  the  famous  Irish  Coercion  Act<5  which  expired  this 


CHARLES  STEWART    PARNELL  559 

year.  I,et  me  explain  to  you  what  these  Coercion  Acts  are.  Under  them 
the  IvOrd-Iyieutenant  of  Ireland  is  entitled  to  proclaim  at  any  time,  in  any 
Irish  county,  forbidding  any  inhabitant  of  that  county  to  go  outside  of 
his  door  after  dark,  and  subjecting  him  to  a  long  term  of  imprisonment 
with  hard  labor,  if  he  is  found  outside  his  door  after  dark.  No  man  is 
permitted  to  carry  a  gun,  or  to  handle  arms  in  his  house  ;  and  the  farmers 
of  Ireland  are  not  even  permitted  to  shoot  at  the  birds  when  they  eat  the 
seed  corn  on  their  freshly-sowed  land.  Under  these  acts  it  is  also  possible 
for  the  Lord- Lieutenant  of  Ireland  to  have  any  man  arrested  and  consigned 
to  prison  without  charge,  and  without  bringing  him  to  trial ;  to  keep  him 
in  prison  as  long  as  he  pleases  ;  and  circumstances  have  been  known  where 
the  Government  has  arrested  prisoners  under  these  Coercion  Acts,  and  has 
kept  them  in  solitary  confinement  for  two  years,  and  not  allowed  them  to 
see  a  single  relative  or  to  communicate  with  a  friend  during  all  that  period, 
and  has  finally  forgotten  the  existence  of  the  helpless  prisoners.  And 
this  is  the  infamous  code  which  England  is  now  seeking  to  re-enact. 

I  tell  you,  when  I  read  this  dispatch,  strongly  impressed  as  I  am  with 
the  magnitude  and  vast  importance  of  the  work  in  which  we  are  engaged 
in  this  country,  that  I  felt  strongly  tempted  to  hurry  back  to  Westminster 
in  order  to  show  this  English  Government  whether  it  shall  dare,  in  this 
year  1880,  to  renew  this  odious  code  with  as  much  facility  as  it  has  done 
in  former  years.  We  shall  then  be  able  to  put  to  a  test  the  newly-forged 
gagging  rules  that  they  have  invented  for  the  purpose  of  depriving  the 
Irish  members  of  freedom  of  speech.  And  I  wish  to  express  my  belief, 
my  firm  conviction,  that  if  the  Irish  members  do  their  duty,  it  will  be 
impossible  that  this  infamous  statute  can  be  re-enacted  ;  and  if  it  again 
finds  its  place  upon  the  statute-book,  I  say  that  the  day  upon  which  the 
royal  assent  is  given  to  that  Coercion  Act  will  sound  the  knell  of  the  poli- 
tical future  of  the  Irish  people. 


JOSEPH  CHAMBERLAIN  (J 836 ) 

THE  BRITISH  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  '* STRENUOUS  LIFE'' 


mHE  name  which  has  been  most  prominent  in  the  political  his- 
tory of  Great  Britain  of  recent  years  is  that  of  Joseph  Cham- 
berlain, whose  work  in  bringing  on  the  Boer  war  won  him 
praise  at  home,  but  reprobation — deep  and  almost  universal — abroad. 
Yet  in  the  face  of  praise  and  blame  alike  Chamberlain  went  on,  work- 
ing for  what  seemed  to  him  the  proper  course  to  pursue  in  the  inter- 
ests of  Great  Britain  with  a  strenuous  energy  and  single-mindedness 
which  assimilates  him  with  Roosevelt  in  America.  While  active  in 
Birmingham  politics,  Chamberlain  did  not  enter  Parliament  till  1876, 
at  forty  years  of  age.  There  he  soon  made  his  mark  as  a  Liberal 
orator  and  worker,  and  gained  wide  influence  outside  the  House,  being 
regarded  as  the  leader  of  the  extreme  Radical  party.  At  first  a  fol- 
lower of  Gladstone,  he  became  strongly  hostile  to  his  Home  Rule  Bill 
in  1886.  In  1891  he  made  himself  the  leader  of  the  Liberal  Union- 
ists in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  in  the  Salisbury  Cabinet  of  1895 
was  chosen  as  Secretary  for  the  Colonies.  It  was  this  position  that 
gave  him  the  controlling  hand  in  the  Jameson  raid  and  the  Boer  war, 
and  brought  him  into  such  unsavory  prominence.  In  the  Balfour 
Cabinet  of  1902,  Chamberlain  was  looked  upon  as  the  "  power  behind 
the  throne,''  the  premier  in  all  but  the  name.  As  a  public  speaker 
he  is  vigorous  and  plausible  in  manner,  with  much  natural  eloquence. 

THE  ANOMALIES  OF  THE  SUFFRAGE 

[Reform  of  the  suffrage  was  one  of  the  great  battle  cries  of  the  people  of  Great 
Britain  during  the  nineteenth  century.  In  the  1830-32  campaign,  and  again,  a  third 
of  a  century  later,  it  almost  led  to  revolution.  Yet  with  all  the  "reform  "  accom- 
plished, it  remained  in  a  very  unreformed  state  in  1883,  when  Chamberlain  delivered 
the  address  from  which  we  quote.] 
560 


I 


JOSEPH    CHAMBERLAIN  561 

In  1858  Mr.  Bright  told  us  that  one-sixth  of  the  electors  returned  half 
the  House  of  Commons.  At  this  moment,  in  1883,  one- fifth  of  the 
electors  do  the  same.  A  population  of  6,000,000  in  the  United  Kingdom 
in  85  counties  returns  136  members,  and  a  similar  population  of  exactly 
the  same  number  in  217  boroughs  returns  290  members,  and  a  third  popu- 
lation, also  of  6,000,000,  but  residing  in  16  great  constituencies,  only- 
returns  36  members.  The  last  of  these  6,000,000  has  only  one-eighth  of 
the  political  power  which  is  conferred  upon  the  6,000,000  in  the  other 
boroughs  ;  it  has  only  about  one-fourth  of  the  political  power  which  is 
conferred  upon  the  6,000,000  in  the  counties. 

And  why  is  this  last  population  singled  out  and  its  representation 
minimized  in  this  way  ?  You  know  that  it  is  the  most  active,  the  most 
intelligent  part  of  the  whole  population  of  the  Kingdom.  The  people 
Avho  live  in  these  great  centres  of  the  population  enjoy  an  active  political 
life  which  is  not  known  elsewhere.  They  manage  their  own  affairs  with 
singular  aptitude,  discretion  and  fairness.  Why  should  not  they  be 
allowed  to  have  their  proportionate  share  in  managing  the  affairs  of  the 
nation  ?  Well,  do  you  not  think  that  the  time  has  come  when  we  should 
strive  to  substitute  a  real  and  honest  representation  of  the  people  for  this 
fraudulent  thing  which  is  called  representation  now  ?  I  will  give  you 
only  one  more  illustration,  and  I  will  sit  down  ;  I  will  not  go  out  of  our 
own  county.  Warwick  is  an  interesting  place.  It  is  generally  in  rather 
a  dead-alive  condition  ;  but,  twice  a  year,  when  Birmingham  and  its  vast 
population  is  at  great  expense  and  inconvenience  to  carry  on  its  legal 
business,  it  awakens  into  a  delusive  animation.  Warwick  has  a  popula- 
tion of  under  12,000  souls,  less  than  the  population  of  any  one  of  the 
wards  of  this  great  borough.  Warwick  returns  two  members  to  Parlia- 
ment, and  if  strict  proportion  were  observed  there  are  enough  people  in 
this  hall  to  return  six  members  to  Parliament.  As  for  Birmingham,  our 
population  is  400,000,  and  the  annual  increment  of  that  population  is  so 
great  that  every  two  years  we  add  another  Warwick  to  our  number.  We 
return  three  members,  and,  lest  you  should  be  surfeited  with  this  generous 
distribution  of  political  power,  you  are  only  permitted  to  give  two  votes 
apiece,  and  so  it  happens  that  an  elector  of  Warwick  has  thirty-four  times 
the  political  power  of  every  elector  of  Birmingham. 

I  have  a  great  respect  for  the  electors  of  Warwick  ;  they  seem  to  me  to 
be  modest  and  humble-minded  men.  They  appear  to  feel  they  cannot  lay 
claim  to  being  six  times  as  good,  as  virtuous,  as  intelligent  as  the  electors 
of  Birmingham,  and  consequently  they  return  one  Liberal  ^nd  one  Con- 
servative, and  so  they  deprive  themselves  of  political  power.  Well,  that 
is  very  public-spirited,  and  very  self-denying ;  but  why  should  they  be 
36 


662  JOSEPH   CHAMBERLAIN 

forced  to  this  alternative,  which  is  very  creditable  to  their  good  feeling, 
but  very  prejudicial  to  their  political  interests  ? 

I  need  not  dwell  further  upon  these  anomalies.  If  they  were  only 
anomalies  I  should  not  much  care,  but  they  are  real  obstacles  to  the  legis- 
lation that  is  required  in  the  interests  of  the  people.  Now,  just  let  me 
^  sum  up  the  situation.  What  does  our  Constitution  do  for  us  ?  First,  it 
excludes  from  all  political  rights  more  than  half  the  adult  male  popula- 
tion ;  and  remember,  the  class  which  is  excluded  is  the  most  numerous 
class;  but  it  is  all  one  class,  and  every  other  class  is  represented  in  its  last 
man.  Well,  then,  in  the  next  place,  of  the  remainder  four-fifths  are  out- 
voted by  one-fifth,  aiid  so  it  happens  that  one- twelfth  of  what  ought  to  be 
the  whole  constituency  of  the  Kingdom  returns  a  majority  of  the  House 
of  Commons.  If  the  one-twelfth  really  represented  the  free  voice  of  the 
people,  it  would  not  be  of  so  much  consequence  ;  but  you  know,  in  many 
cases  at  all  events,  it  only  represents  the  influences  of  some  great  terri- 
torial family,  or  some  local  magnate. 

Among  the  numerous  discoveries  which  we  owe  to  science,  I  was 
much  interested  some  time  ago  in  reading  of  one  which  I  think  was  called 
the  megaphone.  Its  province  was  to  expand  and  develop  the  sounds 
which  were  intrusted  to  it.  By  its  means  a  whisper  becomes  a  roar. 
Well,  at  every  general  election  you  hear  the  roar  of  the  parliamentary 
representative  system,  and  some  people  are  deceived ;  they  think  it  the 
thunderous  voice  of  the  people  to  which  they  are  listening.  But  if  they 
would  only  trace  it  to  its  source  they  would  find  it  was  the  whisper  of 
some  few  privileged  individuals  swollen  and  expanded  by  the  ingenious 
political  megaphones  which  I  have  described  to  you. 


BOOK  VI. 

The  Pulpit  Orators  of  Great  Britain 

IN  our  series  of  European  pulpit  orators,  extend- 
ing from  Augustine  and  Chrysostom,  of  the 
early  Church,  down  to  the  famous  preachers  of 
the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  none  of  British  birth  were 
included.  Yet  the  island  of  Great  Britain  has  been 
by  no  means  lacking  in  pulpit  orators  of  fame. 
Among  those  of  the  earlier  age,  for  example,  may  be 
included  the  stern  and  inflexible  leader  of  the  Scot- 
tish Reformation,  John  Knox,  who  did  not  hesitate 
to  speak  the  unvarnished  truth  to  Queen  Mary  in  her 
palace  halls,  and  Hugh  Latimer,  the  ardent  and  elo- 
quent Protestant  preacher,  who  died  heroically  for 
his  faith  at  the  stake.  In  the  eighteenth  century  we 
meet  with  Wesley,  the  founder  of  Methodism,  whose 
principles  he  eloquently  disseminated  for  many  years, 
speaking  in  the  open  air  to  audiences  of  vast  propor- 
tions and  intent  interest ;  and  Whitefield,  the  origi- 
nator of  Calvinistic  Methodism,  a  man  of  equal  elo- 
quence. The  oratory  of  these  men  was  not  classic 
in  form.  It  represented  the  unpolished  outpourings 
of  their  minds  to  uncultured  hearers.  But  it  was 
eloquent  with  earnestness  and  zeal,  and  reached  the 
hearts  of  those  to  whom  they  spoke.  In  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  pulpits  of  England  were  filled  by 
many  orators  of  fine  powers  of  thought  and  eloquent 
rendering.  If  we  should  attempt  to  give  all  those  of 
graceful  oratory,  we  should  run  far  beyond  our  limits, 
and  it  is  necessary  to  confine  our  selections  to  a  few 
of  the  more  famous  of  these  recent  preachers. 

663 


HUGH  LATIMER  (t472-J555) 

A  MARTYR  TO  CONSCIENCE 


mHE  persecution  against  the  Protestants  of  England  by  ^'  Bloody 
Queen  Mary''  found  its  most  distinguished  victims  in  Bishops 
Latimer,  of  Worcester,  and  Ridley,  of  London,  and  Archbishop 
Cranmer,  of  Canterbury.  Of  these  eminent  sufferers  Latimer  showed 
the  highest  courage.  When  bound  to  the  stake,  side  by  side  with 
Bishop  Ridley,  to  be  burned  to  death  for  conscience  sake,  he  said  : 
"Be  of  good  cheer.  Master  Ridley,  and  play  the  man  ;  for  we  shall 
this  day  kindle  such  a  torch,  by  God's  grace,  in  England,  as  I  trust 
shall  never  be  put  out."  In  less  than  a  century  his  word  was  made 
good  in  the  great  Puritaii  Revolution.  Hugh  Latimer  wa&  through- 
out his  life  distinguished  for  courage,  zeal  and  piety,  and  early  gained 
distinction  as  an  eloquent  preacher  of  the  Reformed  faith. 

THE  SERMON  OF  THE  PLOW 

[I/atimer  ranks  among  the  earliest  of  pulpit  orators  who  won  fame  in  England, 
where  his  eloqnence  was  long  unsurpassed.  Of  his  existing  sermons,  the  most  favor- 
able example  of  his  powers  is  that  in  which  he  neatly  compares  the  labors  of  the 
preacher  and  the  plowman,  and  draws  a  salutary  lesson  from  the  comparison.] 

Preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  one  of  God's  plow-works,  and  the  preacher 
is  one  of  God's  plowmen.  Ye  may  not  be  offended  with  my  similitude, 
in  that  I  compare  preaching  to  the  labor  and  work  of  plowing,  and  the 
preacher  to  a  plowman.  Ye  may  not  be  offended  with  this  my  similitude, 
for  I  have  been  slandered  of  some  persons  for  such  things.  But  as  preach- 
ers must  be  wary  and  circumspect,  that  they  give  not  any  just  occasion  to 
be  slandered  and  ill-spoken  of  by  the  hearers,  so  must  not  the  auditors  be 
offended  without  cause.  For  Heaven  is  in  the  Gospel  likened  to  a  mus- 
tard seed  ;  it  is  compared  also  to  a  piece  of  leaven  ;  and  Christ  saith  that 
at  the  last  day  he  will  come  like  a  thief.  And  what  dishonor  is  this  to 
564 


kUGH  LATIMER  565 

God  ?  Or  what  derogation  is  this  to  Heaven  ?  Ye  may  not,  then,  I  say, 
be  offended  with  my  similitude  for  because  I  liken  preaching  to  a  plow- 
man's labor,  and  a  prelate  to  a  plowman. 

But  now  you  will  ask  me  whom  I  call  a  prelate.  A  prelate  is  that 
man,  whatever  he  be,  that  hath  a  flock  to  be  taught  of  him  ;  whosoever 
hath  any  spiritual  charge  in  the  faithful  congregation,  and  whosoever  he 
be  that  hath  cure  of  souls.  And  well  may  the  preacher  and  the  plowman 
be  likened  together  :  First,  for  their  labor  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  ;  for 
there  is  no  time  of  the  year  in  which  the  plowman  hath  not  some  special 
work  to  do — as  in  my  country,  in  I,eicestershire,  the  plowman  hath  a  time 
to  set  forth,  and  to  assay  his  plow,  and  other  times  for  other  necessary 
works  to  be  done.  And  then  they  also  may  be  likened  together  for"  the 
diversity  of  works  and  variety  of  offices  that  they  have  to  do.  For  as  the 
plowman  first  setteth  forth  his  plow,  and  then  tilleth  his  land,  and  breaketh 
it  in  furrows,  and  sometimes  ridgeth  it  up  again  ;  and  at  another  time  har- 
roweth  it  and  clotteth  it,  and  sometimes  dungeth  it  and  hedgeth  it,  dig- 
geth  it  and  weedeth  it,  purgeth  it  and  maketh  it  clean  ;  so  the  prelate,  the 
preacher,  hath  many  diverse  offices  to  do.  He  hath  first  a  busy  work  to 
bring  his  parishioners  to  a  right  faith,  as  Paul  calleth  it ;  and  not  a  swerv- 
ing faith,  but  to  a  faith  that  embraceth  Christ,  and  trusteth  to  his  merits  ; 
a  lively  faith ;  a  justifying  faith  ;  a  faith  that  maketh  a  man  righteous 
without  respect  of  works  ;  as  ye  have  it  very  well  declared  and  set  forth 
in  the  homily.  He  hath  then  a  busy  work,  I  say,  to  bring  his  flock  to  a 
right  faith,  and  then  to  confirm  them  in  the  same  faith — now  casting  them 
down  with  the  law,  and  with  threatenings  of  God  for  sin  ;  now  ridging 
them  up  again  with  the  Gospel,  and  with  the  promises  of  God's  favor; 
now  weeding  them  by  telling  them  their  faults,  and  making  them  forsake 
sin ;  now  clotting  them,  by  breaking  their  stony  hearts,  and  by  making 
them  supple-hearted,  and  making  tliem  to  have  hearts  of  flesh — that  is, 
soft  hearts,  and  apt  for  doctrine  to  enter  in  ;  now  teaching  to  know  God 
rightly,  and  to  know  their  duty  to  God  and  their  neighbors  ;  now  exhort- 
ing them  when  they  know  their  duty  that  they  do  it,  and  be  diligent  in  it ; 
so  that  they  have  a  continual  work  to  do. 

Great  is  their  business,  and,  therefore,  great  should  be  their  hire. 
They  have  great  labors,  and,  therefore,  they  ought  to  have  good  livings, 
that  they  may  commodiously  feed  their  flock — for  the  preaching  of  the 
Word  of  God  unto  the  people  is  called  meat.  Scripture  calleth  it  meat, 
not  strawberries,  that  come  but  once  a  year,  and  tarry  not  long,  but  are 
soon  gone — but  it  is  meat ;  it  is  no  dainties.  The  people  must  have  meat 
that  must  be  familiar  and  continual,  and  daily  given  unto  th^m  to  feed 
upon.     Many  make  a  strawberry  of  it,  ministering  it  but  once  a  year ; 


666  HUGH  LATIMER 

but  such  do  not  the  office  of  good  prelates.  For  Christ  saith  :  **  Who 
think  you  is  a  wise  and  faithful  servant?  He  that  giveth  meat  in  due 
time."  So  that  he  must  at  all  times  convenient  preach  diligently  ;  there- 
fore, saith  he  :  "  Who  trow  ye  is  a  faithful  servant  ?  ' '  He  speaketh  it  as 
though  it  were  a  rare  thing  to  find  such  a  one,  and  as  though  he  should 
say  there  be  but  few  of  them  to  find  in  the  world.  And  how  few  of  Ihetii 
there  be  throughout  this  world  that  give  meat  to  their  flock  as  they  should 
do,  the  visitors  can  best  tell.  Too  few,  too  few,  the  more  is  the  pity,  and 
never  so  few  as  now. 

By  this,  then,  it  appeareth  that  a  prelate,  or  any  that  hath  cure  of 
souls,  must  diligently  and  substantially  work  and  labor.  Therefore  saith 
Paul  to  Timothy  :  "  He  that  desireth  to  have  the  office  of  a  bishop,  or  a 
prelate,  that  man  desireth  a  good  work."  Then,  if  it  be  a  good  work,  it 
is  work  ;  ye  can  but  make  a  work  of  it.  It  is  God's  work,  God's  plow, 
and  that  plow  God  would  have  still  going.  Such,  then,  as  loiter  and  live 
idly  are  not  good  prelates  or  ministers.  And  of  such  as  do  not  preach 
and  teach  and  do  their  duties,  God  saith  by  his  prophet  Jeremy  :  ' '  Cursed 
be  the  man  that  doeth  the  work  of  God  fraudulently,  guilefully,  or  deceit- 
fully ;  "  some  books  have  it  iiegligenter^  ''negligently,"  or  "  slackly." 
How  many  such -prelates,  how  many  such  bishops,  Lord,  for  thy  mercy, 
are  there  now  in  England  !  And  what  shall  we  in  this  case  do  ?  Shall 
we  company  with  them  ?  O  Lord,  for  thy  mercy  !  Shall  we  not  company 
with  them  ?  O  Lord,  whither  shall  we  flee  from  them  ?  But  "  cursed  be 
he  that  doeth  the  work  of  God  negligently  or  guilefully."  A  sore  word 
for  them  that  are  negligent  in  discharging  their  office  or  have  done  it 
fraudulently  ;  for  there  is  the  thing  that  maketh  the  people  ill.  .    ,    .    . 

And  now  I  would  ask  a  strange  question  :  Who  is  the  most  diligent 
bishop  and  prelate  in  all  England  that  passeth  all  the  rest  in  doing  his 
office?  I  can  tell,  for  I  know  him  who  he  is;  I  know  him  well.  But 
now  I  think  I  see  you  listening  and  hearkening  that  I  should  name  him. 
There  is  one  that  passeth  all  the  others,  and  is  the  most  diligent  prelate 
and  preacher  in  all  England.  And  will  ye  know  who  it  is  ?  I  will  tell 
you  ;  it  is  the  devil.  He  is  the  most  diligent  preacher  of  all  others  ;  he 
is  never  out  of  his  diocese  ;  he  is  never  from  his  cure ;  ye  shall  never 
find  him  unoccupied  ;  he  is  ever  in  his  parish  ;  he  keepeth  residence  at 
time  ;  ye  shall  never  find  him  out  of  the  way  ;  call  for  him  when  you  will, 
he  is  ever  at  home  ;  the  diligentest  preacher  in  all  the  realm  ;  he  is  ever  at 
his  plow  ;  no  lording  nor  loitering  can  hinder  him  ;  he  is  ever  applyi 
his  business  ;  ye  shall  never  find  him  idle,  I  warrant  you  ! 


1 

\ 


JOHN  KNOX  (t  5054  572) 

THE  FATHER  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH 


IN  his  short  funeral  oration  over  the  dead  body  of  John  Knox, 
Murray,  the  Regent  of  Scotland,  said,  ''  Here  lies  he  who 
"■^  never  feared  the  face  of  man/'  These  words  fitly  indicate  the 
character  of  the  hardy  and  indomitable  religious  reformer  of  Scot- 
land. A  Roman  Catholic  until  1542,  he  became  after  that  year  a 
zealous  preacher  of  the  Protestant  doctrines,  till  then  hardly  known 
in  Scotland.  He  suffered  for  his  faith.  Assassins  were  employed  to 
take  his  life.  A  castle  in  which  he  took  refuge  was  assailed  and  cap- 
tured, and  for  nineteen  months  he  was  held  captive  in  the  French 
galleys.  When  Queen  Mary  came  to  the  English  throne,  his  friends 
induced  him  to  leave  Scotland,  and  he  retired  to  Geneva,  where  he 
became  a  friend  of  John  Calvin.  In  1559  he  returned  to  Scotland, 
and  here  became  the  master-spirit  of  the  growing  body  of  Protestants, 
sustaining  their  courage  by  his  own  indomitable  resolution,  and  his 
vehement  harangues  against  what  he  designated  the  idolatries  of  the 
Romish  Church.  Few  of  the  religious  reformers  of  that  age  were  his 
equals  in  courage  and  sagacity  and  in  the  inflexible  austerity  of  his 
principles.  Froude  says  that  he  was  "  perhaps  in  that  extraordinary 
age  its  most  extraordinary  man,  whose  character  became  the  mould 
in  which  the  later  fortunes  of  his  country  were  cast." 

GOD^S  POWER  ABOVE  THAT  OF  KINGS 

[The  hardiness  of  John  Knox  did  not  flinch  in  the  face  of  kingly  power,  and  he 
thundered  against  tyranny  as  boldly  as  against  any  form  of  impiety.  The  following 
extract  is  from  his  Edinburgh  sermon  of  August  19,  1565,  its  text  being  Isaiah  xxvi, 
13-16.  Its  tone  was  not  a  safe  one  in  those  autocratic  days,  but  Knox  had  no  fear  of 
living  men.] 

567 


668  JOHN  KNOX 

The  first  thing,  then,  that  God  requires  of  him  who  is  called  to  the 
honor  of  a  king,  is  the  knowledge  of  His  will  revealed  in  His  Word. 

The  second  is  an  upright  and  willing  mind,  to  put  in  execution  such 
things  as  God  commands  in  His  law,  without  declining  to  the  right  or  to 
the  left  hand. 

Kings,  then,  have  not  an  absolute  power  to  do  in  their  government 
what  pleases  them,  but  their  power  is  limited  by  God's  Word  ;  so  that  if 
they  strike  where  God  has  not  commanded,  they  are  but  murderers  ;  and 
if  they  spare  where  God  has  commanded  to  strike,  they  and  their  thrones 
are  criminal  and  guilty  of  the  wickedness  which  abounds  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth,  for  lack  of  punishment. 

Oh  that  kings  and  princes  would  consider  what  account  shall  be 
craved  of  them,  as  well  for  their  ignorance  and  misknowledge  of  God's 
will  as  for  the  neglecting  of  their  office  ! 

Wouldst  thou,  O  Scotland  !  have  a  king  to  reign  over  thee  in  justice, 
equity,  and  mercy  ?  Subject  thou  thyself  to  the  I^ord  thy  God,  obey  His 
commandments,  and  magnify  thou  the  Word  that  calleth  unto  thee, 
''  This  is  the  way,  walk  in  it ;  "  and  if  thou  wilt  not,  flatter  not  thyself; 
the  same  justice  remains  this  day  in  God  to  punish  thee,  Scotland,  and 
thee,  Edinburgh,  especially,  which  before  punished  the  land  of  Judah  and 
the  city  of  Jerusalem.  Every  realm  or  nation,  saith  the  prophet  Jeremiah, 
that  likewise  offendeth  shall  be  likewise  punished,  but  if  thou  shalt  see 
impiety  placed  in  the  seat  of  justice  above  thee,  so  that  in  the  throne  of 
God  (as  Solomon  complains)  reigns  nothing  but  fraud  and  violence, 
accuse  thine  own  ingratitude  and  rebellion  against  God  ;  for  that  is  the 
only  cause  why  God  takes  away  "  the  strong  man  and  the  man  of  war, 
the  judge  and  the  prophet,  the  prudent  and  the  aged,  the  captain  and  the 
honorable,  the  counselor  and  the  cunning  artificer ;  and  I  will  appoint, 
saith  the  L<ord,  children  to  be  their  princes,  and  babes  shall  rule  over 
them.  Children  are  extortioners  of  my  people,  and  women  have  rule 
over  them." 

If  these  calamities,  I  say,  apprehend  us,  so  that  we  see  nothing  but 
the  oppression  of  good  men  and  of  all  godliness,  and  that  wicked  men 
without  God  reign  above  us,  let  us  accuse  and  condemn  ourselves,  as  the 
only  cause  of  our  own  miseries.  For  if  we  had  heard  the  voice  of  the 
lyord  our  God,  and  given  upright  obedience  unto  the  same,  God  would 
have  multiplied  our  peace,  and  would  have  rewarded  our  obedience  before 
the  eyes  of  the  world.  But  now  let  us  hear  what  the  prophet  saith 
further:  ''  The  dead  shall  not  live,"  saith  he,  "  neither  shall  the  tyrants, 
nor  the  dead  arise,  because  thou  hast  visited  and  scattered  them,  and 
destroyed  all  their  memory." 


JOHN  WESLEY  (1 7034 79 1) 

THE  ZEALOUS  ORATOR  OF  METHODISM 


I  A  JT  the  English  University  of  Oxford,  about  1729,  a  group  of 
I /A  I  religious  enthusiasts  among  the  students,  including  John  and 
Charles  Wesley,  George  Whitefield,  James  Hervey,  and  others, 
associated  themselves  into  an  association  so  strict  and  methodical  in 
its  habits,  that  they  were  given  the  name  of  Methodists,  and  were 
also  called,  in  ridicule,  Bible  Moths,  the  Godly  Club,  and  Bible  Bigots. 
John  Wesley  was  recognized  as  their  leader,  and  almost  ruined  his 
liealth  by  fasting  and  austerity.  In  1735  he  and  his  brother  Charles 
went  on  a  mission  to  Georgia,  but  were  not  very  successful  there.  It 
was  not  until  after  his  return  to  England  that  he  broke  from  the  cere- 
monies of  the  English  Church  and  founded  the  sect  since  known  as 
^lethodists.  The  clergy  of  the  Established  Church  then  closed  their 
til  arches  against  him,  and  he  followed  Whitefield's  example  of 
preaching  in  the  open  air.  This  he  continued  with  extraordinary 
success.  For  half  a  century  he  continued  these  out-door  ministra- 
tions, at  times  from  10,000  to  30,000  people  waiting  for  hours  to  hear 
liim.  During  this  time  he  traveled  about  the  country  250,000  miles 
and  preached  40,000  sermons,  doing  also  a  great  quantity  of  literary 
w  ork.  His  preaching  was  chiefly  among  the  working  classes,  and 
his  life  was  frequently  in  danger  from  hostile  mobs;  but  he  escaped 
all  perils,  and  in  his  old  age  his  journeys  became  triumphal  proces- 
sions. Few  religious  teachers  have  done  so  much  good  as  Wesley, 
esi)ecially  among  the  lowest  classes  of  the  poor,  whom  he  earnestly 
sought  to  bring  into  the  fold  of  Christ. 

IRRELIGION  AMONG  COLLEGE  PEOPLE 

[On  August  24,  1744,  Wesley  preached  his  last  sermon  before  the  University  cJf 
Oxford,  to  a  very  large  audience,  composed  of  the    authorities  and  students  of  the 

569 


570  JOHN  WESLEY 

University,  and  others  of  note.  This  celebrated  sermon,  while  deeply  impressing 
many  of  his  hearers,  gave  unpardonable  offense  to  the  authorities.  The  reasons  for 
this  sentiment,  and  the  courage  of  the  preacher  in  taking  the  professors  and  students 
so  severely  to  account,  are  sufl&ciently  evident  in  the  extract  here  given.] 

I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  if  ye  do  account  me 
a  madman  or  a  fool,  yet  as  a  fool  bear  with  me.  It  is  utterly  needful  that 
some  one  should  use  great  plainness  of  speech  towards  you.  It  is  more 
especially  needful  at  this  time ;  for  who  knoweth  but  it  is  the  last  ?  And 
who  will  use  this  plainness,  if  I  do  not  ?  Therefore  I,  even  I,  will  speak. 
And  I  adjure  you,  by  the  living  God,  that  ye  steel  not  your  hearts  against 
receiving  a  blessing  at  my  hands. 

Let  me  ask  you,  then,  in  tender  love,  and  in  the  spirit  of  meekness, 
Is  this  city  a  Christian  city  ?  Is  Christianity,  Scriptural  Chris tianityj 
found  here?  Are  we,  considered  as  a  community  of  men,  so  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  as  to  enjoy  in  our  hearts,  and  show  forth  in  our  lives,  the| 
genuine  fruits  of  that  Spirit  ?  Are  all  the  magistrates,  all  heads  and  gov- 
ernors of  colleges  and  halls,  and  their  respective  societies,  (not  to  speak] 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town)  of  one  heart  and  soul  ?  Is  the  love  of] 
God  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  ?  Are  our  tempers  the  same  that  were  in  | 
Christ,  and  are  our  lives  agreeable  thereto  ? 

In  the  fear  and  in  the  presence  of  the  great  God,  before  whom  both! 
you  and  I  shall  shortly  appear,  I  pray  you  that  are  in  authority  over  us, 
whom  I  reverence  for  your  office  sake,  to  consider,  Are  you  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  ?  Are  ye  lively  portraitures  of  Him  whom  ye  are  appointed 
to  represent  among  men  ?  Ye  magistrates  and  rulers,  are  all  the  thoughts 
of  your  hearts,  all  your  tempers  and  desires,  suitable  to  your  high  calling? 
Are  all  your  words  like  unto  those  which  come  out  of  the  mouth  of  God  ? 
Is  there  in  all  your  actions  dignity  and  love  ? 

Ye  venerable  men,  who  are  more  especially  called  to  form  the  tender 
minds  of  youth,  are  you  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  with  all  those  fruits 
of  the  Spirit,  which  your  important  ofiBce  so  indispensably  requires  ?  Do 
you  continually  remind  those  under  your  care  that  the  one  rational  end  of 
all  our  studies  is  to  know,  love  and  serve  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  He  hath  sent  ?  Do  you  inculcate  upon  them,  day  by  day,  that 
without  love  all  learning  is  but  splendid  ignorance,  pompous  folly,  vexa- 
tion of  spirit  ?  Has  all  you  teach  an  actual  tendency  to  the  love  of  God, 
and  of  all  mankind  for  His  sake  ?  Do  you  put  forth  all  your  strength  in 
the  vast  work  you  have  undertaken  ;  using  every  talent  which  God  hath 
lent  you,  and  that  to  the  uttermost  of  your  power  ? 

What  example  is  set  them  [the  youth]  by  us  who  enjoy  the  bene 
cence  of  our  forefathers  ;  by  fellows,  students,  scholars  ;  more  especij 


UNIVERSITY 

Of 

JOHN  WESLEY^g^UFORN^,^^  671 

those  who  are  of  some  rank  and  eminence  ?  Do  ye,  brethren,  abound  in 
the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  in  lowliness  of  mind,  in  self-denial  and  mortifica- 
tion, in  seriousness  and  composure  of  spirit,  in  patience,  meekness, 
sobriety,  temperance,  and  in  unwearied,  restless  endeavors  to  do  good,  in 
every  kind,  unto  all  men?  Is  this  the  general  character  of  fellows  of  col- 
leges ?  I  fear  it  is  not.  Rather,  have  not  pride  and  haughtiness  of  spirit, 
impatience  and  peevishness,  sloth  and  indolence,  gluttony  and  sensuality, 
and  even  a  proverbial  uselessness,  been  objected  to  us  ;  perhaps  not  only 
1)y  our  enemies,  nor  wholly  without  ground  ?  .    .    .    . 

Once  more,  what  shall  we  say  concerning  the  youth  of  this  place? 
Have  you  either  the  form  or  the  power  of  Christian  godliness  ?  Are  you 
humble,  teachable,  advisable?  or  stubborn,  self-willed,  heady,  and  high- 
minded  ?  Are  you  obedient  to  your  superiors  as  to  parents  ?  Or  do  you 
despise  those  to  whom  you  owe  the  tenderest  reverence  ?  Are  you  dili- 
gent in  pursuing  your  studies  with  all  your  strength,  crowding  as  much 
work  into  every  day  as  it  can  contain  ?  Rather,  do  you  not  waste  day 
after  day,  either  in  reading  what  has  no  tendency  to  Christianity,  or  in 
gaming,  or  in — you  know  not  what?  Do  you,  out  of  principle,  take  care 
to  owe  no  man  anything  ?  Do  you  remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it 
holy  ?  Do  you  know  how  to  possess  your  bodies  in  sanctification  and  in 
honor  ?  Are  not  drunkenness  and  uncleanness  found  among  you  ?  Yea, 
are  there  not  of  you  who  glory  in  their  shame  ?  Do  not  many  of  you 
take  the  name  of  God  in  vain,  perhaps  habitually,  without  either  remorse 
or  fear  ?  Yea,  are  there  not  a  multitude  of  you  that  are  forsworn  ?  Be 
not  surprised,  brethren  ;  before  God  and  this  congregation,  I  own  myself  to 
have  been  of  that  number ;  solemnly  swearing  to  observe  all  those  customs 
which  I  then  knew  nothing  of;  and  those  statutes,  which  I  did  not  so 
much  as  read  over,  either  then  or  for  some  years  after.  What  is  perjury, 
if  this  is  not  ? 

May  it  not  be  one  of  the  consequences  of  this,  that  so  many  of  you 
are  a  generation  of  triflers?  triflers  with  God,  with  one  another,  and  with 
your  own  souls  ?  How  few  of  you  spend,  from  one  week  to  another,  a 
single  hour  in  private  prayer  ?  How  few  of  you  have  any  thought  of  God 
in  the  general  tenor  of  your  conversation  ?  Can  you  bear,  unless  now  and 
then,  in  a  church,  any  talk  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Would  you  not  take  it 
for  granted,  if  one  began  such  a  conversation,  that  it  was  either  hypocrisy 
or  enthusiasm  ?  In  the  name  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty,  I  ask,  What 
religion  are  you  of?  Even  the  talk  of  Christianity  ye  cannot,  will  not, 
bear.  O  my  brethren  !  What  a  Christian  city  is  this  ?  It  is  time  for 
Thee,  Lord,  to  lay  to  Thine  hand. 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD  (J7J4-I770) 

THE  FAMOUS  OPEN-AIR  PREACHER 


A  MAN  of  powerful  voice  and  inspiring  eloquence,  George  White- 
field  adopted  the  habit  of  preaching  in  the  open  air,  drawing 
audiences  so  imrhense  that  it  seemed  impossible  for  any  man 
to  make  himself  heard  by  them.  A  fellow-student  at  Oxford  with 
John  and  Charles  Wesley,  he  entered  into  religious  fellowship  with 
them,  and  soon  began  speaking  with  great  power  and  eloquence, 
crowded  congregations  listening  to  him  with  enthusiastic  attention. 
It  was  his  exclusion  from  the  churches  of  Bristol  that  set  him  to 
preaching  in  the  open  air.  For  some  five  years  he  maintained  the 
Wesleyan  doctrine  of  Methodism,  but  about  1741  he  adopted  the  Cal- 
vinistic  doctrine  of  predestination,  and  a  break  between  him  and 
Wesley  took  place.  Much  of  Whitefield's  ministrations  took  place  in 
the  American  colonies,  which  he  visited  on  seven  different  occasions, 
on  some  of  which  he  stayed  for  several  years.  He  died  at  Newbury- 
port,  Massachusetts,  in  1770,  on  his  seventh  visit. 

A  WARNING  AGAINST  WORLDLY  WAYS 

[It  was  not  the  creed  of  the  Church  of  England  to  which  Wesley  and  Whitefield 
objected,  but  its  methods  and  ceremonies,  and  their  title  of  Methodists  referred  to  ^ 
their  methodical  strictness  rather  than  to  any  doctrinal  distinction.     The  sermons" 
from  which  the  following  selections  are  taken,  in  which  Whitefield  openly  denounce 
the  Church  of  English  Ministers  for  encouraging  the  wicked  by  their  example,  excite 
much  feeling  when  delivered.] 

My  brethren,  if  we  will  live  godly  we  must  suffer  persecution.  Wc 
must  no  more  expect  to  go  to  Heaven  without  being  persecuted,  than 
be  happy  without  being  holy.  If  you  lead  godly  lives,  all  the  sons  oi| 
Belial,  all  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  will  hate  you  and  have  you  in  reproach* 
They  will  point  to  you  and  cry,  "  See,  yonder  comes  another  troop  of  his 
followers  !  There  are  more  of  his  gang  !  "  You  are  counted  as  a  parcel 
572 


^3^^ 


distinguished  pulpit  orators 
^  Great  Britain 


PULPIT  ORATORS  OF  FOUR  CENTURIES 

Hugh  Latimer  was  an  ardent  and  eloquent  preacher  of  the  Pro- 
testant religion  in  1742.  The  other  four  belong  to  the  igth 
Century  and  were  distinguished  pulpit  orators. 


GEORGE   WHITEFIELD  573 

of  ignorant  people,  poor  rabble,  who  are  deceived  by  a  vain  young  upstart 
babbler,  by  a  madman,  one  who  is  running  into  enthusiastic  notions,  and 
endeavors  to  lead  all  his  followers  into  his  mad  way  of  thinking.  The 
Pharisees  may  wonder  what  I  mean  by  talking  of  persecution  in  a  Chris- 
tian country  ;  but  if  they  had  their  will,  they  would  as  willingly  put  our 
feet  in  the  stocks,  shut  us  up  in  prison,  and  take  away  our  lives,  as  they 
have  thrust  us  out  of  their  synagogues.  But  let  not  that  discourage  you 
from  hearing  the  word  of  God  ;  for  Jesus  Christ  can  meet  us  as  well  in  a 
field  as  between  church  walls. 

If  you  were  of  the  world  ;  if  you  would  conform  to  the  ways,  man- 
ners, and  customs  of  the  world  ;  if  you  would  go  to  a  play,  or  ball,  or 
masquerade ;  the  world  would  then  love  you,  because  you  would  be  its 
own.  But  because  you  despise  their  polite  entertainments,  and  go  to  hear 
a  sermon  in  the  field,  and  will  not  run  into  the  same  excess  of  riot  as 
others,  they  esteem  you  as  methodically  mad,  as  fit  only  for  Bedlam.  If 
you  would  frequent  horse-racing,  assemblies,  and  cock-fighting,  then  you 
would  be  caressed  and  admired  by  our  gay  gentlemen  ;  but  your  despising 
these  innocent  diversions  (as  the  world  calls  them),  makes  them  esteem 
you  as  a  parcel  of  rabble,  of  no  taste,  who  are  going  to  destroy  yourselves 
by  being  over- righteous.  If  you  would  join  them  in  singing  the  song  of 
the  drunkard,  they  would  think  you  a  good  companion  ;  but  because  you 
are  for  singing  hymns,  and  praising  the  I^ord  Jesus  Christ,  they  think  you 
enthusiasts.  Indeed,  our  polite  gentry  would  like  religion  very  well  if  it 
(lid  but  countenance  an  assembly,  or  allow  them  to  read  novels,  plays  and 
romances  ;  if  they  might  go  a -visiting  on  Sundays,  or  to  a  play  or  ball 
w  henever  they  pleased.  In  short,  they  would  like  to  live  a  fashionable, 
polite  life,  to  take  their  full  swing  of  pleasures,  and  go  to  Heaven  when 
they  die.  But,  if  they  were  to  be  admitted  to  Heaven  without  a  purifica- 
tion of  heart  and  life,  they  would  be  unhappy  there  .... 

Is  it  becoming  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England  to  frequent  those 
places  of  public  entertainment  which  are  condemned  by  all  serious  and 
good  men  ?  Is  it  not  inconsistent  with  all  goodness  for  ministers  to  frequent 
play-houses,  balls,  masquerades?  Would  it  not  better  become  them  to 
visit  the  poor  of  their  flock,  to  pray  with  them,  and  to  examine  how  it 
stands  with  God  and  their  souls  ?  Would  it  not  be  more  agreeable  to  the 
temper  of  the  blessed  Jesus  to  be  going  about  doing  good,  than  going 
about  setting  evil  examples  ?  How  frequent  is  it  for  the  poor  and  illiterate 
people  to  be  drawn  away  more  by  example  than  precept  ?  How  frequent 
is  it  for  them  to  say,  "  Sure  there  can  be  no  crime  in  going  to  a  play,  or 
to  an  ale-house, — no  crime  in  gaming  or  drinking,  when  a  minister  of  our 
own  Church  does  this."     This  is  the  common  talk  of  poor,   ignorant 


674  GEORGE  WHITEFIELD 

people,  who  are  too  willing  to  follow  the  examples  of  their  teachers. 
The  examples  of  the  generality  of  the  clergy  occasion  many  persons,  com- 
mitted to  their  charge,  to  run  to  the  devil's  entertainments.     Good  God 
are  these  the  men  who  are  charging  others  with  making  too  great  a  nois« 
about  religion? 

INNOCENT  DIVERSIONS 

They  talk  of  innocent  diversions  and  recreations.  For  my  part, 
know  of  no  diversion  but  that  of  doing  good.  If  you  can  find  any  diver- 
sion which  is  not  contrary  to  your  baptismal  vow,  of  renouncing  th 
pomps  and  vanities  of  this  wicked  world  ;  if  you  can  find  any  diversion, 
which  tends  to  the  glory  of  God  ;  if  you  can  find  any  diversion  which  you 
would  be  willing  to  be  found  at  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  give  you  my 
free  license  to  go  to  them.  But  if,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  found  to 
keep  sinners  from  coming  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  if  they  are  a  means 
to  harden  the  heart,  and  such  as  you  would  not  willingly  be  found  in 
when  you  come  to  die,  then,  my  dear  brethren,  keep  from  them.  Many 
of  you  may  think  I  have  gone  too  far,  but  I  shall  go  a  great  deal  farther 
yet.  I  will  attack  the  devil  in  his  strongest  holds,  and  bear  my  testimony 
against  our  fashionable  and  polite  entertainments.  What  pleasure  is  there 
in  spending  several  hours  at  cards  ?  Is  it  not  misspending  your  precious 
time,  which  should  be  spent  in  working  out  your  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling  ?  Do  play-houses,  horse-racing,  balls,  and  assemblies  tend  to 
promote  the  glory  of  God  ?  Would  you  be  willing  to  have  your  souls 
demanded  of  you  while  you  were  at  one  of  these  places  ?  What  good  can 
come  from  a  horse-race,  from  abusing  God  Almighty's  creatures,  and 
putting  them  to  a  use  He  never  designed  them  for  ?  The  play-houses  are 
nurseries  of  debauchery,  and  the  supporters  of  them  are  encouragers  and 
promoters  of  all  the  evil  that  is  done  there.  They  are  the  bane  of  the  age, 
and  will  be  the  destruction  of  the  frequenters  of  them.  Is  it  not  high  time 
for  the  true  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  to  lift  up  their  voices  as  a  trumpet, 
and  cry  aloud  against  the  diversions  of  the  age  ?  If  you  have  tasted  of 
the  love  of  God,  and  have  felt  His  power  upon  your  souls,  you  would  no 
more  go  to  a  play  than  you  would  run  your  heads  into  a  furnace.  And 
what  occasions  these  places  to  be  so  much  frequented  is  the  clergy's 
making  no  scruple  to  be  at  these  polite  entertainments  themselves.  They 
frequent  play-houses  ;  they  go  to  horse-races  ;  they  go  to  balls  and  assem- 
blies ;  they  frequent  taverns,  and  follow  all  the  entertainments  that  the 
age  affords;  and,  yet,  these  are  the  persons  who  should  advise  their  hear- 
ers to  refrain  from  them.  They  always  go  disguised,  for  they  are  afraid 
of  being  seen  in  their  gowns  and  cassocks  ;  for  their  consciences  inform 
them  that  it  is  not  an  example  fit  for  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  set. 


\ 


JOHN  HENRY  NEWMAN  (J 801= 1 890) 

A  BRITISH  CATHOLIC  ORATOR 


mN  recent  times  two  prominent  divines  of  the  English  Episcopal 
Church  have  been  converted  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith, 
and  been  made  cardinals  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  These  were 
Cardinal  Manning,  of  whom  we  have  elsewhere  spoken,  and  Cardinal 
Newman,  with  w^hom  we  are  here  concerned.  Beginning  his  pastoral 
career  as  vicar  of  St.  Mary's,  Oxford,  Newman  subsequently  took  a 
very  active  part  in  what  was  known  as  "  The  Oxford  Movement," 
and  himself  wrote  a  number  of  the  famous  "  Tracts  for  the  Times." 
These  tracts,  which  were  in  favor  of  the  strictest  Anglican  orthodoxy, 
ended  in  the  conversion  to  the  Roman  faith  of  a  number  of  their 
writers,  Newman  among  them.  He  resigned  from  St.  Mary's  in  1843, 
and  subsequently  entered  the  Catholic  Church,  being  made  a  cardinal 
l)y  the  Pope  in  1879. 

As  a  pulpit  orator  Newman  ranked  high,  winning  fame  in  both 
his  forms  of  faith.  His  long  series  of  Oxford  sermons  contain  some  of 
the  finest  ever  preached  from  an  Anglican  pulpit,  and  his  Roman 
Tatholic  sermons,  though  less  striking  for  their  pathos,  are  marked  by 
still  finer  rhetoric  and  literary  finish.  Aside  from  his  reputation  as 
an  orator,  Newman  was  an  author  of  fine  powers,  alike  as  a  logician 
and  in  theological  controversy.  To  his  prose  writings  he  added  many 
poems  of  fine  touch  and  finish,  most  notable  among  them  being  the 
famous  hymn,  ''  Lead,  Kindly  Light." 

THE  EVILS  OF  MONEY-GETTING 

[From  one  of  Newman's  "  Oxford  Sermons  "  we  make  a  brief  extract  in  illus- 
tration of  his  style  of  oratory,  and  also  for  the  salutary  lesson  it  conveys  and  the 
eflfective  manner  in  which  the  weakness  and  wickedness  of  money  seeking,  for  itself 
alone,  is  presented.  It  was  preached  from  the  text,  **  Woe  unto  ye  that  are  rich,  for 
iye  have  received  your  consolation."] 

676 


676  JOHN    HENRY   NEWMAN 

I  say,  then,  that  it  is  a  part  of  Christian  caution  to  see  that  our 
engagements  do  not  become  pursuits.  Engagements  are  our  portion,  but 
pursuits  are  for  the  most  part  of  our  own  choosing.  We  may  be  engaged 
in  worldty  business  without  pursuing  worldly  objects.  *'  Not  slothful  in 
business,"  yet  "serving  the  Lord."  In  this,  then,  consists  the  danger 
of  the  pursuit  of  gain,  as  by  trade  and  the  like.  It  is  the  most  common 
and  widely  spread  of  all  excitements.  It  is  one  in  which  everyone  almost 
may  indulge,  nay,  and  will  be  praised  by  the  world  for  indulging.  And 
it  lasts  through  life — in  that  differing  from  the  amusements  and  pleasures 
of  the  world,  which  are  short-lived  and  succeed  one  after  another.  Dissi- 
pation of  mind,  which  these  amusements  create,  is  itself,  indeed,  miserable 
enough  ;  but  far  worse  than  this  dissipation  is  the  concentration  of  mind 
upon  some  worldly  object  which  admits  of  being  constantly  pursued  :  an 
such  is  the  pursuit  of  gain. 

Nor  is  it  a  slight  aggravation  of  the  evil  that  anxiety  is  almost  sure 
to  attend  it.  A  life  of  money-getting  is  a  life  of  care.  From  the  first 
there  is  a  fretful  anticipation  of  loss  in  various  ways  to  depress  and  unset- 
tle the  mind,  nay,  to  haunt  it,  till  a  man  finds  he  can  think  about  nothing 
else,  and  is  unable  to  give  his  mind  to  religion  from  the  constant  whirl  of 
business  in  which  he  is  involved.  It  is  well  this  should  be  understood. 
You  may  hear  men  talk  as  if  the  pursuit  of  wealth  was  the  business  of 
life.  They  will  argue  that,  by  the  law  of  nature,  a  man  is  bound  to  gain 
a  livelihood  for  his  family,  and  that  he  finds  a  reward  in  doing  so — an 
innocent  and  honorable  satisfaction — as  he  adds  one  sum  to  another,  and 
counts  up  his  gains.  And,  perhaps,  they  go  on  to  argue  that  it  is  the 
very  duty  of  man,  since  Adam's  fall,  ''  in  the  sweat  of  his  face,"  by  effort 
and  anxiety,  "  to  eat  bread."  How  strange  it  is  that  they  do  not  remem- 
ber Christ's  gracious  promise,  repealing  that  original  curse  and  obviating 
the  necessity  of  any  real  pursuit  after  "the  meat  that  perisheth."  In 
order  that  we  might  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption,  He  has 
expressly  told  us  that  the  necessaries  of  life  shall  never  fail  His  faithful 
follower  any  more  than  the  meal  and  oil  the  widow  woman  of  Sarepta  ; 
that  while  he  is  bound  to  labor  for  his  family,  he  need  not  be  engrossed 
by  his  toil ;  that  while  he  is  busy,  his  heart  may  be  at  leisure  for  the 
Lord.  "  Be  not  anxious,  saying  :  What  shall  we  eat,  or  what  shall  we 
drink,  or  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ?  For  after  all  these  things  do 
the  Gentiles  seek  ;  and  your  Heavenly  father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need 
of  these  things." 

I  have  now  given  the  main  reason  why  the  pursuit  of  gain,  whe 
in  a  large  or  a  small  way,  is  prejudicial  to  our  spiritual  interests — tha' 
fixes  the  mind  upon  an  object  of  this  world.     Yet  others  remain  behi 


JOHN    HENRY   NEWMAN  677 

Money  is  a  sort  of  creation,  and  gives  the  acquirer  even  raore  than  the 
possessor  an  imagination  of  his  own  power,  and  tends  to  make  him  idolize 
self.  Again,  what  we  have  hardly  won,  we  are  unwilling  to  part  with  ; 
so  that  a  man  who  has  himself  made  his  wealth  will  commonly  be  penu- 
rious, or  at  least  will  not  part  with  it  except  in  exchange  for  what  will 
reflect  credit  on  himself  and  increase  his  importance.  Even  when  his 
conduct  is  most  disinterested  and  amiable  (as  in  spending  for  the  comfort 
of  those  who  depend  on  him),  still  this  indulgence  of  self,  of  pride,  and 
worldliness,  insinuates  itself.  Very  unlikely,  therefore,  is  it  that  he 
should  be  liberal  towards  God  ;  for  religious  offerings  are  an  expenditure 
without  sensible  return,  and  that  upon  objects  for  which  the  very  pursuit 
of  wealth  has  indisposed  his  mind. 

Moreover,  if  it  may  be  added,  there  is  a  considerable  tendency  in 
occupations  connected  with  gain  to  make  a  man  unfair  in  his  dealings  ; 
that  is,  in  a  subtle  way.  There  are  so  many  conventional  deceits  and 
prevarications  in  the  details  of  the  world's  business,  so  much  intricacy  in 
the  management  of  accounts,  so  many  perplexed  questions  about  justice 
and  equity,  so  many  plausible  subterfuges  and  fictions  of  law,  so  much 
confusion  between  the  distinct  yet  approximating  outlines  of  honesty  and 
civil  enactment,  that  it  requires  a  very  straightforward  mind  to  keep  firm 
hold  of  strict  conscientiousness,  honor,  and  truth,  and  to  look  at  matters 
in  which  he  is  engaged  as  he  would  have  looked  on  them  supposing  he 
now  came  upon  them  all  at  once  as  a  stranger. 

And  if  such  be  the  effect  of  the  pursuit  of  gain  on  an  individual, 
doubtless  it  will  be  the  same  on  a  nation.  Only  let  us  consider  the  fact 
that  we  are  a  money-making  people,  with  our  Saviour's  declaration  before 
us  against  wealth,  and  trust  in  wealth,  and  we  shall  have  abundant  mat- 
ter for  serious  thought. 


37 


HENRY  EDWARD  MANNING  (J 8084 892) 


ROME'S  FAMOUS  CONVERT 


MANNING,  a  graduate  of  Oxford,  began  his  ecclesiastical  career  as 
a  rector  in  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Great  Britain,  in  which  he 
"^  was  made  Archdeacon  of  Chichester  in  1840.  Eleven  years 
later  he  made  a  decided  sensation  by  going  over  to  the  Cathohc 
Church.  In  1865  he  was  appointed  Archbishop  of  Westminster,  and 
ten  years  later  was  raised  to  the  high  dignity  of  Cardinal.  He  took  part 
in  the  CEcumenical  Council  at  Rome  in  1869-70,  and  in  it  maintained 
the  doctrine  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope.  As  an  orator  Manning 
ranked  high  among  English  pulpit  speakers,  his  sermons  being 
marked  by  purity  of  diction,  strength  of  thought  and  directness  of 
style. 

ROME  THE  ETERNAL 

[On  the  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifteenth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of 
Rome  Manning  delivered  an  oration  on  the  subject  of  the  Eternal  City,  especially  in 
its  aspect  as  the  capital  of  the  Church,  whose  sentiments  seem  to  solve  the  problem 
of  his  conversion  from  Protestantism  to  Catholicism.  His  promotion  to  the  Care 
nalate  is  thought  to  have  been  influenced  by  this  sermon.  We  append  an  ext 
showing  its  character.] 


I  know  of  no  point  of  view  in  which  the  glory  of  Rome  is  more  coi 
spicuons  than  in  its  civil  mission  to  the  races  of  the  world.     When  tl 
seat  of  empire  was  translated  from  Rome  to  Constantinople,  all  the  cultui 
and  civilization  of  Italy  seemed  to  be  carried  away  to  enrich  and  adora^ 
the  East.     It  seemed  as  if  God  had  decreed  to  reveal  to  the  world  what 
His  Church  could  do  without  the  world,  and  what  the  world  could  not  do 
without  the  Church.     A  more  melancholy  history  than  that  of  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire  is   nowhere  to  be  read.     It  is   one   long  narrative  of  the 
usurpation  and  insolent  dominion  of  the  world  over  the  Church,  whicl 
becoming  schismatical  and  isolated,  fell  easily  under  its  imperial  maste 
578 


HENRY  EDWARD  MANNING  579 

With  all  its  barbaric  splendor  and  imperial  power,  what  has  Constanti- 
nople accomplished  for  the  civilization  or  the  Christianity  of  the  East  ? 
If  the  salt  had  kept  its  savor,  it  would  not  have  been  cast  out  and  trodden 
under  the  feet  of  the  Eastern  Antichrist. 

While  this  was  accomplishing  in  the  East,  in  the  West  a  new  world 
was  rising,  in  order,  unity,  and  fruitfulness,  under  the  action  of  the  Pon- 
tiffs. Even  the  hordes  which  inundated  Italy  were  changed  by  them  from 
the  wildness  of  nature  to  the  life  of  Christian  civilization.  From  St.  Leo 
to  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  Christian  Europe  may  be  said  not  to  exist ! 
Rome  stood  alone  under  the  rule  of  its  pontiffs,  while  as  yet  empires  and 
kingdoms  had  no  existence.  Thus,  little  by  little,  and  one  by  one,  the 
nations  which  now  make  up  the  unity  of  Christendom  were  created, 
trained  and  formed  into  political  societies.  First  lyombardy,  then  Gaul, 
then  Spain,  then  Germany,  then  Saxon  England  ;  then  the  first  germs  of 
lesser  States  began  to  appear.  But  to  whom  did  they  owe  the  laws,  the 
principles,  and  the  influences  which  made  their  existence  possible, 
coherent,  and  mature  ?  It  was  to  the  Roman  Pontiffs  that  they  owed  the 
first  rudiments  of  their  social  and  political  order.  It  was  the  exposition 
of  the  Divine  law  by  the  lips  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  that  founded  the 
Christian  policy  of  the  world. 

Thus,  the  Church  has  been  able  to  do  without  the  world,  and  even  in 
spite  of  it.  Nothing  can  be  conceived  more  isolated,  more  feeble,  or  more 
encompassed  with  peril,  than  the  line  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs ;  neverthe- 
less, they  have  maintained  inviolate  their  independence  with  their  sacred 
deposit  of  faith  and  of  jurisdiction,  through  all  ages  and  through  all  con- 
flicts, from  the  beginning  to  this  hour.  It  seemed  as  if  God  willed  to 
remove  the  first  Christian  emperor  from  Rome  in  the  early  fervor  of  his 
conversion,  lest  it  should  seem  as  if  the  sovereignty  of  the  Church  were  in 
any  way  the  creation  of  his  power.  God  is  jealous  of  His  own  kingdom 
and  will  not  suffer  any  unconsecrated  hand  to  be  laid  upon  His  ark,  even 
for  its  support. 

The  "  stone  cut  without  hands,"  which  became  a  great  mountain  and 
filled  the  whole  earth,  is  typical,  not  only  of  the  expansion  and  universal- 
ity of  the  Church,  but  of  its  mysterious  and  supernatural  character.  No 
human  hand  has  accomplished  its  greatness.  The  hand  of  God  alone 
could  bring  it  to  pass. 

What  is  there  in  the  history  of  the  world  parallel  to  the  Rome  of  the 
Christians  ?  The  most  warlike  and  imperial  people  of  the  world  gave 
place  to  a  people  unarmed  and  without  power.  The  pacific  people  arose 
from  the  Catacombs  and  entered  upon  the  possession  of  Rome  as  their 
inheritance.     The  existence  of  Christian  Rome,  both  in  its  formation,  and 


580  HENRY  EDWARD  MANNING 

next  in  its  perpetuity,  is  a  miracle  of  Divine  power.  God  alone  could 
'give  it  to  His  people ;  God  alone  could  preserve  it  to  them,  and  them  in 
it.  What  more  wonderful  sight  than  to  see  a  Franciscan  monk  leading 
the  Via  Crucis  in  the  Flavian  Amphitheatre,  or  the  Passionist  missiona- 
ries conversing  peacefully  among  the  ilexes  and  the  vaults  where  the  wild 
beasts  from  Africa  thirsted  for  the  blood  of  the  Christians  ?  Who  has 
prevailed  upon  the  world  for  one  thousand  five  hundred  years  to  fall  back 
as  Attilla  did  from  Christian  Rome  ?  Who  has  persuaded  its  will,  and 
paralyzed  its  ambitions  and  conflicting  interests  ?  Such  were  my  thoughts 
the  other  day  when  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  surrounded  by  the  princes  and 
pastors  of  the  Church,  was  celebrating  the  festival  of  the  Resurrection 
over  the  Confession  of  St.  Peter.  I  thought  of  the  ages  past,  when,  in  the 
amphitheatre  of  Nero,  within  which  we  stood,  thousands  of  martyrs  fell 
beneath  the  arms  of  the  heathen.  And  now,  the  Rex  Pacificus,  the  Vicar 
of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  there  holds  his  court  and  offers  over  the  tomb  of 
the  Apostle  the  unbloody  sacrifice  of  our  redemption.  The  legions  of 
Rome  have  given  way  before  a  people  who  have  never  lifted  a  hand  in 
war.  They  have  taken  the  city  of  the  Caesars,  and  hold  it  to  this  day. 
The  more  than  imperial  court  which  surrounded  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ 
surpassed  the  glories  of  the  Empire.  "  This  is  the  victory  which  over- 
cometh  the  world,  even  our  faith."  The  noblest  spectacle  upon  earth  is 
an  unarmed  man  whom  all  the  world  cannot  bend  by  favor  or  by  fear.^ 
Such  a  man  is  essentially  above  all  worldly  powers.  And  such,  eminei 
among  the  inflexible,  is  he,  the  Pontiff  and  King,  who,  in  the  midst  of  the 
confusions  and  rebellions  of  the  whole  earth,  bestowed  that  day  his  bene 
diction  upon  the  city  and  the  world. 


h 


ARTHUR  PENHRYN  STANLEY  (I8J5-J88J) 

THE  ELOQUENT  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER 


mHE  life  of  Dean  Stanley  we  may  briefly  state.  Son  of  the 
Bishop  of  Norwich,  he  studied  at  Rugby  under  the  famous 
Dr.  Arnold,  whose  ''  Life  "  he  afterward  wrote — a  work  which 
was  very  widely  read.  Graduating  later  at  Oxford,  he  became  chap- 
lain to  Prince  Albert,  and  in  1856  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History 
at  Oxford.  Two  years  later  he  was  appointed  a  Canon  of  Christ 
Church,  and  in  1864  became  Dean  of  Westminster,  which  position  he 
filled  till  his  death  in  1881. 

Stanley  was  a  man  of  the  highest  spirit  of  tolerance  and  widest 
sympathy,  his  freedom  from  prejudice  being  shown  in  his  charity  for 
the  heresies  of  Bishop  Colenso  and  his  willingness  to  preach  in  Scotch 
Presbyterian  pulpits.  While  true  religion  and  morality  were  to  him 
sacred,  for  systematic  theology  he  had  no  respect,  and  he  regarded  as 
utter  inanity  the  controversies  of  the  priesthood  about  postures,  lights, 
vestments,  etc.  As  a  preacher,  he  exercised  a  wide  influence,  and  as 
an  author  he  produced  various  meritorious  works  on  theological  and 
other  subjects. 

THE  LESSON  OF  PALMERSTON'S  LIFE 
[On  October  29,  1865,  shortly  after  the  death  of  England's  popular  Premier, 
Ivord  Palmerston,  Stanley  delivered  in  Westminster  Abbey  a  notable  discourse  upon 
his  life  and  work.     There  is  no  better  example  of  his  powers  as  an  orator  than  this 
eulogistic  essay,  and  we  offer  from  it  the  following  suggestive  extract.] 

Each  human  soul  gifted  above  the  souls  of  common  men  leaves,  as  it 
passes  away  from  this  lower  world,  a  light  peculiar  to  itself.  As  in  a 
mountainous  country  each  lofty  peak  is  illumined  with  a  different  hue  by 
the  setting  sun,  so  also  each  of  the  higher  summits  of  human  society 
is  lighted  up  by  the  sunset  of  life  with  a  different  color.  Whether  the 
difference  arises  from  the  materials  of  which  it  is  composed,  or  from  the 

681 


582  ARTHUR  PENHRYN   STANLEY 

relative  position  it  has  occupied,  a  new  and  separate  lesson  is  taught  by  it 
of  truth  or  of  duty,  of  wisdom  or  of  hope.  What,  then,  are  the  special 
lessons  which  we  learn  from  the  life  and  character  of  the  remarkable  man 
who  has  just  been  taken  away  from  us,  and  to  whose  memory  so  great  a 
national  tribute  has  just  been  paid  ?  First,  there  is  this  singular  peculi- 
arity, that  the  gifts  to  which  the  eminence  of  the  departed  statesman 
was  due  were  gifts  far  more  within  the  attainment  of  us  all  than  is  com- 
monly supposed.  It  has  been  said  of  Judas  Maccabeus,  that  of  all  of  the 
military  chiefs  of  his  time  he  was  the  one  who  accomplished  the  greatest 
results  with  the  smallest  amount  of  external  resources.  Of  our  late  chief 
it  might  no  less  truly  be  said,  that  of  all  political  leaders  he  achieved 
great  success  by  the  most  homely  and  ordinary  means.  It  was  that  which 
made  his  life  in  so  many  respects  an  example  and  an  encouragement  to 
all.  The  persevering  devotion  of  his  days  and  nights  to  the  public  service, 
and  the  toil  and  endurance  of  more  than  half  a  century  in  the  various 
high  stations  in  which  he  was  employed  ;  these  are  qualities  which  might 
be  imitated  by  every  single  person.  They,  whoever  they  may  be,  who 
are  disposed,  as  so  many  young  men  are  in  the  present  day,  to  give  them- 
selves up  to  ease  and  self-indulgence — avoiding,  if  they  can,  everything 
which  costs  continued  trouble,  everything  which  demands  honest,  earnest, 
hard  work — must  remember  that  not  by  much  faint-hearted,  idle  care- 
lessness can  either  God  or  man  be  served  to  any  purpose  ;  or  the  true  end 
of  any  human  soul  be  attained  for  either  this  life  or  the  life  to  come. 

lyCt  men,  whoever  they  may  be,  who  are  working  zealously,  honestly, 
and  humbly  in  their  several  stations,  work  on  the  more  zealously  and 
faithfully  from  this  day  forward,  reflecting  that  in  the  honors  paid  to  one 
who  was  in  this  respect  but  a  fellow-laborer  with  themselves,  the  nation 
has,  in  the  sight  of  God,  set  its  seal  on  the  value  of  work,  on  the  noble- 
ness of  toil,  on  the  grandeur  of  long  days  of  labor,  on  the  dignity  of  plod- 
ding, persevering  diligence.     Again,  the  departed  statesman  won  his  way 
not  so  much  by  eloquence,  or  genius,  or  far-sighted  greatness,  as  by  lesser 
graces  of  good  humor,  gaiety  and  kindness  of  heart,  tact,  and  readiness — 
lesser  graces,  doubtless,  of  which  some  of  the  highest  characters  have  been^ 
destitute,  but  graces  which  are  not  the  less  gifts  of  God,  and  which  evei 
in  the  house  of  God  we  do  well  to  reverence  and  admire.     They  who  ma] 
think  it  of  little  moment  to  take  oifense  at  the  slightest  affront ;  who  b] 
their  presence  throw  a  chill  over  whatever  society  they  enter  ;  they  wh( 
make  the  lives  of  others  miserable  by  wounding  their  keenest  sensibili- 
ties ;  they  who  poison  discussion  and  embitter  controversy  by  pushing 
particular  views  on  to  the  extremest  consequences,  and  by  widening  dif- 
ferences between  man  and  man  ;  they  who  think  it  their  duty  to  make  the 


ARTHUR  PENHRYN  STANLEY  683 

worst  of  every  one  from  whom  they  dissent,  and  enter  a  never-ending 
protest  against  those  who  may  have  done  them  wrong:  such  as  these  may 
have  higher  pretensions,  and,  it  may  be,  higher  claims  to  honor  and 
respect,  yet  they  will  do  well  to  understand  the  silent  rebuke  which  arises 
from  the  new-made  grave,  and  which  God  designs  for  their  especial 
benefit  .... 

If  it  be  true  that  to  follow,  not  to  lead,  public  opinion  must  hence- 
forth be  the  course  of  our  statesmen,  then  our  responsibilities  and  the 
responsibility  of  the  nation  are  deepened  further  still.  Just  as  in  a  belea- 
guered city,  where  every  sentinel  knows  that  on  his  single  fidelity  might 
depend  the  fate  of  all,  a  single  resolute  mind,  loving  the  truth  only,  has 
before  now  brought  the  whole  mind  of  a  nation  around  itself ;  a  single  pure 
spirit  has,  by  its  own  holy  aspirations,  breathed  itself  into  the  corrupt  mass 
of  a  national  literature ;  and  a  single  voice  raised  honestly  in  behalf  of 
truth,  justice,  and  mercy,  has  blasted  forever  practices  which  were  once  uni- 
versal. So  I  would  call  upon  men,  in  the  prospect  of  the  changes  and 
trials,  whatsoever  they  are,  which  are  now  before  them  ;  in  the  midst  of 
the  memories  by  which  they  are  surrounded  ;  in  the  face  of  that  mighty 
future  to  which  we  are  all  advancing,  to  forget  **  those  things  that  are 
behind;  "  to  forget  in  him  who  is  gone  all  that  was  of  the  earth  earthy, 
and  reach  forward  to  his  character  in  all  that  is  immortal  in  his  freedom 
from  party  spirit,  and  in  his  self-devotion  to  the  public  weal.  Let  men 
forget,  too,  in  the  past  and  present  generations,  all  that  is  behind  the  best 
spirit  of  our  age ;  all  that  is  before  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  Gospel ;  all 
that  is  behind  in  the  requirements  of  the  most  enlightened  and  the  most 
Christian  conscience ;  and  reach  forward,  one  and  all,  towards  those 
great  things  which  they  trust  are  still  before  them — the  great  problems 
which  our  age,  if  any,  might  solve ;  the  great  tasks  which  our  nation 
alone  can  accomplish  ;  the  great  doctrines  of  our  common  faith  which 
they  may  have  opportunities  of  grasping  with  a  firmer  hand  than  ever 
they  had  before  ;  the  great  reconciliation  of  things  old  with  things  new,  of 
things  human  with  things  sacred,  of  class  with  class,  of  man  with  man,  of 
nation  with  nation,  of  Church  with  Church,  of  all  with  God.  This,  and 
nothing  less  than  this,  is  the  high  calling  of  the  nineteenth  century  ;  this 
is  the  high  calling  of  England  ;  this  is  the  high  calling  of  every  English 
citizen  ;  and  he  who  answers  not  to  this  high  call  is  utterly  unworthy  of 
his  birthright  as  a  member  of  this,  our  kingly  commonwealth 


CHARLES  RSPURGEON  (J 834- J 892) 

LONDON^S  FAMOUS  PULPIT  ORATOR 


aMONG  the  Dissenters  *  of  England,  made  notable  in  the  past  by 
such  famous  orators  as  Wesley  and  Whitefield,  there  have 
been  many  preachers  of  great  power  in  recent  times,  promi- 
nent among  whom  may  be  named  Charles  H.  Spurgeon,  a  man  of  the 
oratorical  type  of  Talmage  in  America,  and  resembling  him  in  the 
great  success  of  his  ministrations.  His  career  as  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel  began  in  1854,  when  he  was  made  pastor  of  the  New  Park 
Street  Chapel,  London;  but  his  power  of  attracting  an  audience  was 
so  great  that,  a  few  years  later,  was  erected  for  him  the  vast  Metro- 
politan Tabernacle,  capable  of  seating  6000  persons.  Connected  with 
this  were  afterward  built  almshouses,  a  pastor's  college  and  an  orphan^ 
age.  Spurgeon's  sermons  were  printed  weekly  from  1855  onward,  and 
had  an  average  issue  of  30,000.  A  member  of  the  Baptist  Union,  he 
withdrew  from  that  body  in  1887,  through  dissatisfaction  with  certain 
of  its  actions.  As  an  orator  Spurgeon  was  highly  gifted,  combining; 
fervor  of  manner  with  a  quaint  humor;  while  his  voice  was  mar-j 
velous  in  clearness  and  outreach.  He  published  in  all  over  a  hundred^ 
volumes  of  religious  literature. 

THE  AUTHORSHIP  OF  THE  BIBLE 

[From  a  sermon  of  Spurgeon's  on  the  subject  of  the  Bible,  we  select  the  follow- 
ing characteristic  example  of  his  eloquent  style  and  emotional  power  of  expression.] 

First,  then,  concerning  this  book,  who  is  the  author  ?  The  text  says 
that  it  is  God.  "/  have  written  to  him  the  great  things  of  My  law." 
Here  lies  my  Bible  ;  who  wrote  it  ?  I  open  it,  and  I  find  it  consists  of  a 
series  of  tracts.     The  first  five  tracts  were  written  by  a  man  called  Moses^ 

*  The  name  given  in  England  to  those  Protestants  who  dissented  from  the  discipline  or  mode  < 
worship  of  the  Established  Church,  and  formed  new  sects,  with  doctrinal  or  other  differences. 

584 


CHARLES   H.  SPURGEON  685 

I  turn  on  and  I  find  others.  Sometimes  I  see  David  is  the  penman,  at 
other  times,  Solomon.  Here  I  read  Micah,  then  Amos,  then  Hosea.  As 
I  turn  further  on,  to  the  more  luminous  pages  of  the  New  Testament,  I 
see  Matthew,  Mark,  lyuke,  and  John,  Paul,  Peter,  James,  and  others  ;  but 
when  I  shut  up  the  book,  I  ask  myself  who  is  the  author  of  it  ?  .  Do  these 
men  jointly  claim  the  authorship  ?  Are  they  the  compositors  of  this  mas- 
sive volume  ?  Do  they  between  themselves  divide  the  honor  ?  Our  holy 
religion  answers,  "  No  !  "  This  volume  is  the  writing  of  the  living  God; 
each  letter  was  penned  with  an  Almighty  finger  ;  each  word  in  it  dropped 
from  the  Everlasting  lips,  each  sentence  was  dictated  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Albeit,  that  Moses  was  employed  to  write  his  histories  with  his  fiery  pen, 
God  guided  that  pen.  It  may  be  that  David  touched  his  harp  and  let 
sweet  psalms  of  melody  drop  from  his  fingers,  but  God  moved  his  hand 
over  the  living  strings  of  his  golden  harp.  It  may  be  that  Solomon  sang 
canticles  of  love,  or  gave  forth  words  of  consummate  wisdom,  but  God 
directed  his  lips  and  made  the  preacher  eloquent.  If  I  follow  the  thun- 
dering Nahum  when  his  horses  plough  the  waters,  or  Habakkuk  when  he 
sees  the  tents  of  Cushan  in  affliction  ;  if  I  read  Malachi,  when  the  earth  is 
burning  like  an  oven  ;  if  I  turn  to  the  smooth  page  of  John,  who  tells  of 
love,  or  the  rugged,  fiery  chapters  of  Peter,  who  speaks  of  the  fire  devour- 
ing God's  enemies  ;  if  I  turn  to  Jude,  who  launches  forth  anathemas  upon 
the  foes  of  God, — everywhere  I  find  God  speaking  :  it  is  God's  voice,  not 
man's  ;  the  words  are  God's,  the  words  of  the  Eternal,  the  Invisible,  the 
Almighty,  the  Jehovah  of  this  earth.  The  Bible  is  God's  Bible ;  and 
when  I  see  it  I  seem  to  hear  a  voice  springing  up  from  it,  saying,  *  *  I  am 
the  book  of  God  ;  man,  read  me.  I  am  God's  writing  ;  open  my  leaf,  for 
I  was  penned  by  God  ;  read  it,  for  He  is  my  author,  and  you  will  see 
Him  visible  and  manifest  ever5^where."  "I  have  written  to  him  the 
great  things  of  my  law." 

How  do  you  know  that  God  wrote  the  book  ?  That  is  just  what  I  shall 
not  try  to  prove  to  you.  I  could,  if  I  pleased,  do  so  to  a  demonstration, 
for  there  are  arguments  enough,  there  are  reasons  enough,  did  I  care  to 
occupy  your  time  to-night  in  bringing  them  before  you  ;  but  I  shall  do  no 
such  thing.  I  might  tell  you,  if  I  pleased,  that  the  grandeur  of  the  style 
above  that  of  any  mortal  writing,  and  that  all  the  poets  who  ever 
isted  could  not,  with  all  their  works  united,  give  us*  such  sublime 
[)oetry  and  such  mighty  language  as  is  to  be  found  in  the  Scriptures.  I 
ight  insist  upon  it  that  the  subjects  of  which  it  treats  are  beyond  the 
Luman  intellect ;  that  man  could  never  have  invented  the  grand  doctrine 
f  a  Trinity  in  the  Godhead  ;  man  could  not  have  told  us  anything  of  the 
creation  of  the  universe  :    he  could  never  have  been  the  author  of  the 


586  CHARLES   H.  SPURGEON 

majestic  idea  of  Providence,  that  all  things  are  ordered  according  to  the 
will  of  one  great  Supreme  Being,  and  work  together  for  good.  I  might 
enlarge  upon  its  honesty,  since  it  tells  the  faults  of  its  writers  ;  its  unity, 
since  it  never  belies  itself;  its  master  simplicity,  that  he  who  runs  may 
read  it ;  and  I  might  mention  a  hundred  more  things,  which  would  all 
prove  to  a  demonstration  that  the  book  is  of  God.  But  I  come  not  here 
to  prove  it.  I  am  a  Christian  minister,  and  you  are  Christians,  or  profess 
to  be  so  ;  and  there  is  never  any  necessity  for  Christian  ministers  to  make 
a  point  of  bringing  forth  infidel  arguments  in  order  to  answer  them. 

There  may  be  some  one  here  to-night  who  has  come  without  faith,  a 
man  of  reason,  a  free-thinker.  With  him  I  have  no  argument  at  all.  I 
profess  not  to  stand  here  as  a  controversialist,  but  as  a  preacher  of  the 
things  I  know  and  feel.  But  I,  too,  have  been  like  him.  There  was  an 
evil  hour  when  once  I  slipped  the  anchor  of  my  faith  ;  I  cut  the  cable  of 
my  belief ;  I  no  longer  moored  myself  hard  by  the  coasts  of  revelation  ;  I 
allowed  myself  to  drift  before  the  wind  ;  I  said  to  Reason,  "  Be  thou  my 
captain  ;  "  I  said  to  my  own  brain,  "  Be  thou  my  rudder  ;  "  and  I  started 
on  my  mad  voyage.  Thank  God  it  is  all  over  now  ;  but  I  will  tell  you 
its  brief  history.  It  was  one  hurried  sailing  over  the  tempestuous  ocean 
of  free- thought.  I  went  on,  and  as  I  went  the  skies  began  to  darken  ;  but 
to  make  up  for  that  deficiency,  the  waters  were  brilliant  with  coruscations 
of  brilliancy.  I  saw  sparks  fly ing'up wards  that  pleased  me,  and  I  thought, 
"If  this  be  free-thought,  it  is  a  happy  thing."  My  thoughts  seemed 
gems,  and  I  scattered  stars  with  both  my  hands.  But  anon,  instead  of  ^| 
these  coruscations  of  glory,  I  saw  grim  fiends,  fierce  and  horrible,  start  1 
up  from  the  waters,  and  as  I  dashed  on  they  gnashed  their  teeth -and 
grinned  upon  me  ;  they  seized  the  prow  of  my  ship,  and  dragged  me  on, 
while  I,  in  part,  gloried  at  the  rapidity  of  my  motion,  but  yet  shuddered 
at  the  terrific  rate  with  which  I  passed  the  old  landmarks  of  my  faith.  As 
I  hurried  forward  with  an  awful  speed,  I  began  to  doubt  my  very  exist- 
ence ;  I  doubted  if  there  were  a  world,  I  doubted  if  there  were  such  a  thing 
as  myself.  I  went  to  the  very  verge  of  the  dreary  realms  of  unbelief.  I 
went  to  the  very  bottom  of  the  sea  of  infidelity.     I  doubted  everything. 

But  here  the  Devil  foiled  himself ;  for  the  very  extravagance  of  the 
doubt  proved  its  absurdity.     Just  when  I  saw  the  bottom  of  that  sea,  th^Hl 
came  a  voice  which  said,  "  And  can  this  doubt  be  true  ?  "     At  this  vei^ 
thought   I  awoke.     I  started  from  that  death-dream,  which  God  knows^ 
might  have  damned  my  soul  and  ruined  this  my  body,  if  I  had  not  awol 


1 


I  JOSEPH  PARKER  (t  8304  902) 

FAMOUS  PULPIT  ORATOR 


rROM  stonemason  to  the  most  popular  pulpit  in  England  is  the 
record  of  one  who  was  heard  and  read  by  more  of  the  world's 
""^     people  than  any  other  man  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

Joseph  Parker  was  the  son  of  a  stonemason,  born  in  1830,  edu- 
cated through  his  own  efforts,  with  but  small  assistance  from  his 
])arents.  When  scarcely  out  of  his  teens  he  showed  great  talent  as  a 
[)ublic  speaker  in  religious  meetings.  He  read  and  studied  at  odd 
moments  the  works  of  the  great  British  Orators,  which  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  his  future  brilliant  career.  Upon  entering  the  ministry,  he 
rapidly  sprang  into  prominence,  and  became  the  pastor  of  the  Temple 
Church,  London,    from   which  his  fame  spread  the  world  over. 

HUMAN  FRIVOLITY 

[This  example  of  pulpit  oratory  shows  the  practical  nature  of  Joseph  Parker's 
sermons.  They  appealed  to  the  multitude,  and  his  pointed  criticism  and  just  indigna- 
tion against  popular  errors  bore  fruit  in  many  lives,  in  making  them  better  and  nobler.] 

Frivolousness  will  ruin  any  life.  No  frivolousness  succeeds  in  any 
great  enterprise.  No  frivolous  man  succeeds  in  business  of  a  commer- 
cial kind.  Business  is  not  a  trick  or  an  amusement,  it  is  hard  work,  bard 
study,  daily  consideration,  incessant  planning,  wakefulness  that  ought 
never  to  go  to  sleep.  If  so  for  a  corruptible  crown,  what  for  an  incorrupt- 
ible ?  The  danger  is  that  we  make  light  of  the  Gospel  because  of  our 
disregard  for  the  manner  in  which  it  is  spoken.  Were  we  anxious  about 
the  vital  matter,  we  should  not  care  how  it  was  uttered.  All  mere  study 
of  manner,  and  way  of  putting  familiar  truth,  is  an  accommodation  to  the 
frivolity  of  the  age.  When  we  are  told  to  make  our  services  more  inter- 
esting, our  music  more  lively,  our  preaching  more  animated,  we  are  but 

587 


688  JOSEPH  PARKER 

told  to  stoop  to  the  frivolity  of  the  time,  that  we  may  entrap  a  truant 
attention  and  arrest  a  wandering  mind.  Given  an  anxious  people,  hun- 
gering and  thirsting  after  righteousness,  knocking  at  the  church  door, 
saying,  "  Open  to  me  the  gates  of  righteousness,  I  will  enter  in  and  be 
glad;  this  is  the  day  the  Lord  hath  made,"  we  need  not  study  any 
mechanical  arrangements,  or  urge  ourselves  to  any  unusual  animation  of 
manner  ;  the  urgency  of  our  desire,  the  purity  and  nobleness  of  our  sym- 
pathy, would  supply  all  the  conditions  required  by  the  God  of  the  feast, 
for  the  pouring  out  of  heaven's  best  wine  and  the  preparation  of  all  the 
fatlings  of  the  heavens  for  the  satisfaction  of  our  hunger.  God  makes  all 
the  universe  contribute  to  the  soul's  growth.  "  My  oxen  and  my  fatlings 
are  killed  and  ready,  therefore  come  to  the  marriage."  He  keeps  back 
nothing  from  the  soul,  He  plucks  the  highest  grapes  in  the  vineyards  ot 
heaven  for  the  soul.  He  seeks  out  the  goodliest  and  choicest  of  His  pos- 
sessions and  treasures  that  the  soul  may  be  satisfied  ;  He  has  kept  back 
nothing  ;  last  of  all  He  sent  His  Son,  saying,  ''  They  will  reverence  my 
Son."  In  that  fact,  see  the  symbol  of  all  that  can  be  crowded  into  the 
suggestions  that  God  withholds  no  good  thing  that  can  minister  to  the 
soul's  development,  and  the  soul's  growth  in  truth  and  love  and  grace. 

Nor  does  the  human  condition  in  relation  to  the  divine  offer  conclude 
itself  under  the  limitation  of  mere  frivolity.  Light-mindedness  in  this 
matter  does  not  complete  itself.  * '  The  remnant  took  his  servants  and 
entreated  them  spitefully,  and  slew  them,"  This  is  true  frivolity.  Fri- 
volity is  followed  by  rebellion,  blasphemy,  high  crime  and  misdemeanor 
before  the  eye  of  heaven.  You  who  laugh  to-day  may  slay  to-morrow,  we 
who  do  make  but  gibes  and  sneers  in  relation  to  the  Gospel  offers  now, 
will  by  and  by  sit  with  the  scornful  and  in  deliberate  blasphemy  mock  the 
King  of  the  feast.  Easy  is  the  descent  towards  this  pit  of  rebellion,  hard- 
heartedness,  and  utter  defiance  of  divine  goodness.  To  defy  the  good — 
there  might  be  some  courage  of  a  wild  kind  in  defying  power,  in  setting 
oneself  in  defiant  attitude  against  thunderbolts,  but  to  defy  goodness,  to 
mock  an  offer  of  hospitality,  to  scorn  the  call  to  a  divine  delight — let  % 
man  once  become  frivolous  in  that  direction,  and  the  whole  substance ^^Bj 
his  character  will  be  depleted  of  everything  that  can  be  ennobled,  and^^' 
will  speedily  sink  to  irremediable  viciousness  and  baseness.  Call  it  not  a 
light  thing  to  laugh  at  sacred  words,  and  religious  opportunities  and 
engagements ;  it  may  seem  at  the  time  to  be  of  small  account,  but  it  is  an 
indication  of  character,  it  is  the  beginning  of  a  descent  which  multipHes 
its  own  momentum,  and  he  who  but  laughs  fluently  and  lightly  to-day  at 
the  preacher's  earnestness,  may  in  an  immeasurably  short  space  of  time  be 
reckoned  with  the  scorners,  and  be  the  chief  companion  of  fools. 


BOOK  VIL 

Orators  of  the  French  Revolution 

NEVER  within  the  history  of  mankind  has  there 
been  a  more  unbridled  outburst  of  human  pas- 
sion than  in  the  great  Revolution  that  over- 
turned the  feudal  establishment  of  France,  putting  an 
end  to  a  long  era  of  cruelty  and  oppression.  Terri- 
ble as  was  the  Revolution,  the  sum  of  misery  it  occa- 
sioned was  inconsiderable  as  compared  with  that 
caused  by  the  system  of  which  it  was  the  legitimate 
termination.  The  former  was  dramatically  centred 
within  a  few  years ;  the  latter  had  pursued  its  slow 
course  through  many  centuries.  We  can  well  com- 
prehend the  fiery  vehemence  of  the  oratory  to 
which  the  Revolution  gave  rise.  In  the  veins  of  the 
orators  burned  the  same  intense  flame  of  hatred  which 
was  shown  in  the  frightful  excesses  of  the  people. 
First  and  greatest  of  them,  Mirabeau, — a  member  of 
the  titled  class,  but  a  democrat  in  grain, — poured 
forth  his  thoughts  in  a  torrent  of  fiery  eloquence 
that  has  rarely  been  equaled.  Vehemence  was  his 
forte,  and  his  verbal  blows  fell  as  sudden  and  swift  as 
the  knife  of  the  guillotine  upon  the  necks  of  its  vic- 
tims. Those  who  followed  him  were  of  the  same 
type.  Danton,  with  his  sledge-hammer  sentences ; 
Vergniaud,  with  his  more  polished  but  equally 
implacable  speeches ;  Marat,  in  whom  thirst  for  blood 
permeated  his  very  words;  Robespierre,  uttering  plati- 
tudes about  God  and  the  hereafter  while  his  hands 
are  reeking  with  the  blood  of  his  late  friends  and  asso- 
ciates. The  Revolution  was  a  phenomenal  event, 
and  its  orators  were  not  the  least  of  its  phenomena. 

689 


GABRIEL  HONORE  RIQUETTI,  COUNT  DE 
MIRABEAU(J749-J79J) 

THE  DEMOSTHENES  OF  FRANCE 


HMAN  man  of  passion,  of  youthful  vices,  of  disorderly  habits,  o: 
dangerous   intrigues,   rebellious   at   once  against  father   anc 
State,  Mirabeau  might  have  died  unknown  to  fame  had  no 
the  States  General  of  1789  given  him  an  opportunity  for  the  display 
of  his  remarkable  eloquence,  and  the  exertion  of  his  gigantic  energy 
against  the  system  of  oppression  and  injustice  which  had  so  Ion 
afflicted  France.     It  was  with  difficulty  that  he  obtained  an  electio 
to  that  body,  but  once  there,  "  He  trod  the  tribune  with  the  supreme 
authority  of  a  master  and  the  imperial  air  of  a  king."     One  of  hi 
critics  says  :  "  He  was  a  man  who,  by  his  qualities  no  less  than  by  th 
singularity  of  his  fortune,  is  destined  to  take  his  place  in  history  by 
the  side  of  the  Demosthenes,  the  Gracchi,  and  the  other  kindred  spirits 
of  an  antiquity  whose  gigantic  characteristics  he  so  frequently  repro- 
duced."     Vehement   and    imperious   in    temper,    irresistible   in  his 
command  over  an  audience,  he  swayed  the  States-General  at  his  will, 
and  had  he  lived  the  Revolution  might  have  taken  quite  another  form 
than  that  hideous  one  by  which  it  made  itself  execrable. 

As  concerns  the  oratory  of  Mirabeau,  Carlyle  says,  "  His  short  and 
pithy  sentences  became  the  watchwords  of  the  Revolution ;  his  ges- 
tures were  commands,  his  motions  were  coups  d'etaV^  Macaulay  thus 
compares  him  with  Chatham,  England's  most  famous  orator  :  "  Sud- 
den bursts  which  seemed  to  be  the  effect  of  inspiration,  short  sentences 
which  came  like  lightning,  dazzling,  burning,  striking  down  every- 
thing before  them,  in  these  chiefly  lay  the  oratorical  power  both  of 
Chatham  and  Mirabeau.  .  .  .  There  have  been  far  greater  speak- 
ers and  far  greater  statesmen  than  either  of  them  ;  but  we  doubt 
590 


COUNT   DE  MIRABEAU  591 

whether  any  men  have,  in  modern  times,  exercised  such  vast  personal 
influence  over  stormy  and  divided  assemblies/'  Mirabeau  did  not 
live  till  the  whirlwind  of  the  Ee volution  reached  its  height.  The 
rein  fell  from  his  hands  on  April  2,  1791,  when  he  lay  down  in  death, 
his  last  words  a  prose  poem  of  the  materialistic  faith  :  "  Envelop  me 
with  perfumes  and  crown  me  with  flowers,  that  I  may  pass  away  into 
everlasting  sleep." 

AND  YET  YOU  DELIBERATE 

[Of  Mirabeau's  orations,  one  of  the  most  characteristic  was  that  upon  a  project 
of  Necker,  the  distinguished  financier,  for  tiding  over  the  financial  difiiculties  which 
troubled  alike  the  Court  and  the  States-General.  We  give  the  peroration  of  this 
famous  and  powerful  speech.] 

In  the  midst  of  this  tumultous  debate  can  I  not  bring  you  back  to 
the  question  of  the  deliberation  by  a  few  simple  questions.  Deign,  gentle- 
men, to  hear  me  and  to  vouchsafe  a  reply. 

Have  we  any  other  plan  to  substitute  for  the  one  he  proposes? 
'*  Yes,"  cries  some  one  in  the  assembly!  I  conjure  the  one  making  this 
reply  of  ' '  Yes  ' '  to  consider  that  this  plan  is  unknown ;  that  it  would 
take  time  to  develop,  examine,  and  demonstrate  it  ;  that  even  were  it  at 
once  submitted  to  our  deliberation,  its  author  may  be  mistaken  ;  were  he 
even  free  of  all  error,  it  might  be  thought  he  was  wrong,  for  when  the 
whole  world  is  wrong,  the  whole  world  makes  wrong  right.  The  author 
of  this  other  project  in  being  right  might  be  wrong  against  the  world, 
since  without  the  assent  of  public  opinion  the  greatest  talents  could  not 
triumph  over  such  circumstances. 

And  I — I  myself — do  not  believe  the  methods  of  M.  Necker  the  very 
best  possible.  But  Heaven  preserve  me  in  such  a  critical  situation  from 
opposing  my  views  to  his  !  Vainly  I  might  hold  them  preferable  !  One 
does  not  in  a. moment  rival  an  immense  popularity  achieved  by  brilliant 
_  services  ;  a  long  experience,  the  reputation  of  the  highest  talent  as  a 
financier,  and,  it  can  be  added,  a  destiny  such  as  has  been  achieved  by  no 
other  man  ! 

I,et  us  then  return  to  this  plan  of  M.  Necker.  But  have  we  the  time 
to  examine,  to  prove  its  foundation,  to  verify  its  calculations  ?  No,  no, 
a  thousand  times  no  !  Insignificant  questions,  hazardous  conjectures, 
doubts  and  gropings,  these  are  all  that  at  this  moment  are  in  our  power. 
What  shall  we  accomplish  by  rejecting  this  deliberation  ?  Miss  our  deci- 
sive moment,  injure  our  self-esteem  by  changing  something  we  neither 
know  nor  understand,  and  diminish  by  our  indiscreet  intervention  the 
influence  of  a  minister  whose  financial  credit  is,  and  ought  to  be,  much 


592  COUNT   DE  MIRABEAU 

greater  than  our  own.  Gentlemen,  there  assuredly  is  in  this  neither  wis- 
dom nor  foresight.  Does  it  even  show  good  faith  ?  If  no  less  solemn 
declarations  guarantee  our  respect  for  the  public  faith,  our  horror  of  the 
infamous  word  ''bankruptcy,"  I  might  dare  to  scrutinize  the  secret 
motives  which  make  us  hesitate  to  promulgate  an  act  of  patriotic  devotion 
which  will  be  inefl&cacious  if  not  done  immediately  and  with  full  confidence. 

I  would  say  to  those  who  familiarize  themselves  with  the  idea  of  fail- 
ing to  keep  the  public  faith,  either  by  fear  of  taxes  or  of  excessive  sacri- 
fices :  What  is  bankruptcy,  if  not  the  most  cruel,  the  most  iniquitous,  the 
most  unequal,  the  most  disastrous  of  imposts  ?  My  friends,  hear  but  a 
word — a  single  word  : 

Two  centuries  of  depredations  and  brigandage  have  made  the  chasm 
in  which  the  kingdom  is  ready  to  engulf  itself.  We  must  close  this  fear- 
ful abyss.  Well,  here  is  a  list  of  French  proprietors.  Choose  among 
the  richest,  thus  sacrificing  the  least  number  of  citizens.  But  choose ! 
For  must  not  a  small  number  perish  to  save  the  mass  of  the  people  ?  Well, 
these  two  thousand  notables  possess  enough  to  make  up  the  deficit. 
This  will  restore  order  in  the  finances  and  bring  peace  and  prosperity  to 
the  kingdom. 

Strike,  immolate  without  pity  these  wretched  victims,  cast  them  into- 
the  abyss  until  it  is  closed  !  You  recoil  in  horror,  inconsistent  and  pusil- 
lanimous men  !  Do  you  not  see  that  in  decreeing  bankruptcy,  or  what  i{ 
still  more  odious,  in  rendering  it  inevitable,  without  decreeing  it,  you  dc 
a  deed  a  thousand  times  more  criminal,  and — folly  inconceivable — gratuit 
ously  criminal  ?  For  at  least  this  horrible  sacrifice  would  cause  the 
disappearance  of  the  deficit.  But  do  you  imagine  that  in  refusing  to  pay, 
you  will  cease  to  owe  ?  Do  you  believe  that  the  thousands,  the  millionj 
of  men,  who  will  lose  in  an  instant,  by  the  terrible  explosion  or  its  reper 
cussion,  all  that  made  the  consolation  of  their  lives,  and  constituted,  per- 
haps, the  sole  means  of  their  support,  would  leave  you  peaceably  to  enjoj 
your  crime  ?  Stoical  contemplators  of  the  incalculable  evils,  which 
this  catastrophe  would  disgorge  upon  France  !  Impassive  egotists  who 
think  that  these  convulsions  of  despair  and  misery  shall  pass  like  so  many 
others,  and  the  more  rapidly  as  they  are  the  more  violent !  Are  you  sure 
that  so  many  men  without  bread  will  leave  you  tranquilly  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  those  dainties,  the  number  and  delicacy  of  which  you  are  unwilling 
to  diminish  !  No  !  you  will  perish,  and  in  the  universal  conflagration  you 
do  not  hesitate  to  kindle,  the  loss  of  your  honor  will  not  save  a  single  one 
of  your  detestable  enjoyments. 

lyook  where  we  are  going  !  .  .  .  I  hear  you  speak  of  patriotism,  and 
the  elan  of  patriotism,  of  invocations  to  patriotism.     Ah!  do  not  prostitute 


I 


COUNT    DE  MIRABEAU  693 

the  words,  **  country"  and  "patriotism"!  It  is  so  very  magnani- 
mous— the  effort  to  give  a  portion  of  one's  revenue  to  save  all  of  one's 
possessions  !  This,  gentlemen,  is  only  simple  arithmetic  ;  and  he  who 
hesitates  cannot  disarm  indignation  except  by  the  contempt  he  inspires 
through  his  stupidity.  Yes,  gentlemen,  this  is  the  plainest  prudence,  the 
commonest  wisdom.  It  is  your  gross  material  interest  I  invoke.  I  shall 
not  say  to  you  as  formerly  :  Will  you  be  the  first  to  exhibit  to  the  nations 
the  spectacle  of  a  people  assembled  to  make  default  in  their  public  obliga- 
tions ?  I  shall  not  say  again  :  What  titles  have  you  to  liberty  ?  What 
means  remain  to  you  to  preserve  it,  if  in  your  first  act  you  surpass  the 
turpitude  of  the  most  corrupt  governments ;  if  the  first  care  of  your 
vigilant  co-operation  is  not  for  the  guarantee  of  your  constitution  ?  I  tell 
you,  you  will  all  be  dragged  into  a  universal  ruin,  and  you  yourselves 
have  the  greatest  interests  in  making  the  sacrifices  the  Government  asks 
of  you.  Vote,  then,  for  this  extraordinary  subsidy  ;  and  it  may  be  suffi- 
cient. Vote  for  it, — for  if  you  have  any  doubts  on  the  means  adopted 
(vague  and  unenlightened  doubts),  you  have  none  as  to  its  necessity,  or 
our  inability  to  provide  an  immediate  substitute.  Vote,  then,  because 
public  necessity  admits  no  delay,  and  we  shall  be  held  accountable  for 
any  delay  that  occurs.  Beware  of  avSking  for  time  !  Misfortune  never 
grants  it ! 

Gentlemen,  apropos  of  a  ridiculous  disturbance  at  the  Palais  Royal, 
of  a  laughable  insurrection,  which  never  had  any  importance  save  in  the 
weak  imaginations  or  perverted  designs  of  a  few  faith -breakers,  you  have 
heard  these  mad  words  :  **  Catiline  is  at  the  gates  of  Rome!  And  yet 
you  deliberate  !  '* 

And  certainly  there  has  been  about  us  no  Catiline,  no  peril,  no  fac- 
tion, no  Rome.  But  to-day  bankruptcy — hideous  bankruptcy — is  here; 
it  threatens  to  consume  you,  your  properties,  your  honor  !  And  yet  you 
deliberate ! 

THE  PRIVILEGED  AND  THE  PEOPLE 

[A  second  brief  extract  will  further  serve  to  show  the  impetuous  and  striking 
I  character  of  Mirabeau's  oratory.] 

In  all  countries,  in  all  ages,  have  aristocrats  implacably  pursued  the 

friends  of  the  people  ;    and  when,  by  I  know  not  what  combination  of 

fortune,  such  a  friend  has  uprisen  from  the  very  bosom  of  the  aristocracy, 

I  it  has  been  at  him  pre-eminently  that  they  have  struck,  eager  to  inspire 

'  wider  terror  by  the  elevation  of  their  victim.     So  perished  the  last  of  the 

Gracchi  by  the  hands  of  the  Patricians.     But,  mortally  smitten,  he  flung 

dust  towards  heaven,  calling  the  avenging  gods  to   witness:  and  from 

38 


594  COUNT   DE  MIRABEAU 

that  dust  sprang  Marius  ; — Marius,  less  illustrious  for  having  extermina- 
ted the  Cimbri  than  for  having  beaten  down  the  despotism  of  the  nobility 
in  Rome. 

But  you,  Commons,  listen  to  one  who,  unseduced  by  your  applause, 
j'^et  cherishes  them  in  his  heart.  Man  is  strong  only  by  union ;  happy 
only  by  peace.  Be  firm,  not  obstinate  ;  courageous,  not  turbulent ;  free, 
not  undisciplined  ;  prompt,  not  precipitate.  Stop  not  except  at  difficul- 
ties of  moment ;  and  be  then  wholly  inflexible.  But  disdain  the  conten- 
tions of  self-love,  and  never  thrust  into  the  balance  the  individual  against 
the  country 

For  myself,  who,  in  my  public  career,  have  had  no  other  fear  than  that 
of  wrong-doing;  who,  girt  with  my  conscience,  and  armed  with  my  prin- 
ciples, would  brave  the  universe ;  whether  it  shall  be  my  fortune  to  serv* 
you  with  my  voice  and  my  exertions  in  the  National  Assembly,  or  whether 
I  shall  be  enabled  to  aid  you  there  with  my  prayers  only,  be  sure  that  the 
vain  clamors,  the  wrathful  menaces,  the  injurious  protestations — all  the 
convulsions,  in  a  word,  of  expiring  prejudices — shall  not  on  me  impose! 
What !  shall  he  now  pause  in  his  civic  course,  who,  first  among  all  th( 
men  of  France,  emphatically  proclaimed  his  opinions  on  national  affairs, 
at  a  time  when  circumstances  were  much  less  urgent  than  now,  and  the 
task  one  of  much  greater  peril  ?  Never  !  No  measure  of  outrages  shall 
bear  down  my  patience.  I  have  been,  I  am,  I  shall  be,  even  to  the  tomb, 
the  man  of  the  Public  Liberty,  the  man  of  the  Constitution.  If  to  be 
such  be  to  become  the  man  of  the  people  rather  than  of  the  nobles,  then 
woe  to  the  privileged  orders  !  For  privileges  shall  have  an  end,  but  the 
people  is  eternal ! 


PIERRE  VERGNIAUD  (J 7594 793) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  THE  GIRONDISTS 


mHE  great  orator  of  the  Girondist  section  of  the  Revolutionary 
Assembly  of  France,  Vergniaud,  was  too  indolent  and  too 
indifferent  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  party,  which  he 
might  have  done  had  he  chosen.  He  was  quite  content  to  fill  the  post 
of  its  orator.  He  was  the  most  moderate  of  the  Girondists,  but  suf- 
fered the  fate  of  his  fellows.  In  January,  1793,  as  President  of  the 
Convention,  he  pronounced  the  sentence  of  the  king's  death.  In 
October  he  suffered  the  same  fate  himself.  No  man  of  his  time  met 
death  more  boldly. 

"In  parliamentary  eloquence,"  says  Macaulay,  "no  Frenchman 
of  his  time  can  be  considered  equal  to  Vergniaud.  In  a  foreign  coun- 
try, and  after  the  lapse  of  half  a  century,  some  parts  of  his  speeches 
are  still  read  with  mournful  admiration.'^  Lamartine  says,  "His 
language  had  the  images  and  harmony  of  the  most  beautiful  verses." 

AN  APPEAL  TO  THE  PEOPLE 

[We  append  two  brief  examples  of  Vergniaud's  oratory,  the  first  calling  on  the 
the  people  to  defend  themselves  against  their  foes,  internal  and  external,  the  second 
denouncing  the  terrorism  of  the  club  of  the  Jacobins.] 

Preparations  for  war  are  manifest  on  our  frontiers,  and  we  hear  of 
renewed  plots  against  liberty.  Our  armies  reassemble ;  mighty  move- 
ments agitate  the  empire.  Martial  law  having  become  necessary,  it  has 
seemed  to  us  just.  But  we  have  succeeded  only  in  brandishing  for  a 
moment  the  thunderbolt  in  the  eyes  of  rebellion.  The  sanction  of  the 
king  has  been  refused  to  our  decrees.  The  princes  of  Germany  make  their 
territory  a  retreat  for  the  conspirators  against  you.  They  favor  the  plots 
of  the  emigrants.     They  furnish  them  an  asylum  ;  they  furnish  them  gold, 

695 


596  PIERRE   VERGNIAUD 

arms,  horses  and  munitions.  Is  not  the  patience  suicidal  which  tolerates 
all  this  ?  Doubtless  you  have  renounced  all  projects  of  conquest ;  but  you 
have  not  promised  to  endure  such  insolent  provocations.  You  have 
shaken  off  the  yoke  of  your  tyrants  ;  but  it  was  not  to  bend  the  knee  to 
foreign  despots. 

But,  beware !  You  are  environed  by  snares.  They  seek  to  drive 
you,  by  disgust  or  lassitude,  to  a  state  of  languor  fatal  to  your  courage ; 
or  fatal  to  its  right  direction.  They  seek  to  separate  you  from  us  ;  they 
pursue  a  system  of  calumny  against  the  National  Assembly  ;  they  incrim- 
inate your  Revolution  in  your  eyes.  O  !  beware  of  these  attempts  at  panic  ! 
Repel,  indignantly,  these  impostors,  who,  while  they  affect  a  hypocritical 
zeal  for  the  Constitution,  cease  not  to  urge  upon  you  the  monarchy  !  The 
monarchy  !  With  them  it  is  the  counter-revolution  !  The  monarchy  ?  It 
is  the  nobility !  The  counter-revolution — what  is  it  but  taxation,  feu- 
dality, the  Bastille,  chains  and  executioners,  to  punish  the  sublime  aspira- 
tions of  liberty  ?  What  is  it  but  foreign  satellites  in  the  midst  of  the 
State  ?  What ,  but  bankruptcy,  engulfing,  with  your  assignats,  your  private 
fortunes  and  the  national  wealth  ;  what,  but  the  furies  of  fanaticism  and 
of  vengeance  ;  assassinations,  pillage,  and  incendiarism  ;  in  short,  despot- 
ism and  death,  disputing,  over  rivers  of  blood  and  heaps  of  carcasses,  the 
dominion  of  your  wretched  country  ?  The  nobility  !  That  is  to  say,  two 
classes  of  men ;  the  one  for  grandeur,  the  other  for  debasement ! — the  one 
for  tyranny,  the  other  for  servitude  !  The  nobility  !  Ah  !  the  very  wordll 
is  an  insult  to  the  hu7na7i  race  !  11 

And  yet,  it  is  in  order  to  secure  the  success  of  these  conspiracies  that 
Europe  is  now  put  in  motion  against  you.  Be  it  so  !  By  a  solemn  declar- 
ation must  these  guilty  hopes  be  crushed.  Yes,  the  free  representatives 
of  France,  unshaken  in  their  attachment  to  the  Constitution,  will  be  buried 
beneath  its  ruins,  before  they  consent  to  a  capitulation  at  once  unworthy 
of  them  and  of  you.  Rally  !  Be  reassured  !  They  would  raise  the 
nations  against  you  ;  they  will  raise  only  princes.  The  heart  of  every 
people  is  with  you.  It  is  their  cause  which  you  embrace,  in  defending 
your  own.  Ever  abhorred  be  war  !  It  is  the  greatest  of  the  crimes  of 
men  ;  it  is  the  most  terrible  scourge  of  humanity  !  But,  since  you  are 
irresistibly  forced  to  it,  yield  to  the  course  of  your  destinies.  Who  can 
foresee  where  will  end  the  punishment  of  the  tyrants  who  will  have  driven_ 
you  to  take  up  arms  ? 

THE  DESPOTISM  OF  THE  JACOBINS 

The  blinded  Parisians  presume  to  call  themselves  free.     Alas  !   it  is 
they  are  no  longer  the  slaves  of  crowned  tyrants  ;  but  they  are  the  slave 


i 


PIERRE   VERGNIAUD  597 

of  men  the  most  vile,  and  of  wretches  the  most  detestable  ;  men  who  con- 
tinue to  imagine  that  the  Revolution  has  been  made  for  themselves  alone, 
and  who  have  sent  Louis  XVI.  to  the  Temple,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
enthroned  at  the  Tuileries  !  It  is  time  to  break  these  disgraceful  chains — 
to  crush  this  new  despotism.  It  is  time  that  those  who  have  made  honest 
men  tremble  should  be  made  to  tremble  in  their  turn. 

I  am  not  ignorant  that  they  have  poniards  at  their  service.  On  the 
night  of  the  second  of  September — that  night  of  proscription  ! — did  they 
not  seek  to  turn  them  against  several  deputies,  and  myself  among  the 
number  !  Were  we  not  denounced  to  the  people  as  traitors  !  Fortunately, 
it  was  the  people  into  whose  hands  we  fell.  The  assassins  were  elsewhere 
occupied.  The  voice  of  calumny  failed  of  its  effect.  If  my  voice  may  yet 
make  itself  heard  from  this  place,  I  call  you  all  to  witness  it  shall  not 
cease  to  thunder,  with  all  its  energy,  against  tyrants,  whether  of  high  or 
low  degree.  What  to  me  their  ruffians  and  their  poniards?  What  his 
own  life  to  the  representative  of  the  people,  while  the  safety  of  the  coun- 
try is  at  stake  ? 

When  William  Tell  adjusted  the  arrow  which  was  to  pierce  the  fatal 
apple  that  a  tyrant  had  placed  on  his  son's  head,  he  exclaimed,  "  Perish 
my  name,  and  perish  my  memory,  provided  Switzerland  may  be  free !  " 
And  we,  also, — we  will  say,  **  Perish  the  National  Assembly  and  its 
memory,  provided  France  may  be  free."*  Ay,  perish  the  National 
Assembly  and  its  memory,  so  by  its  death  it  may  save  the  Nation  from  a 
course  of  crime  that  would  affix  an  eternal  stigma  to  the  French  name ; 
so,  by  its  action,  it  may  show  the  Nations  of  Europe  that,  despite  the 
calumnies  by  which  it  is  sought  to  dishonor  France,  there  is  still  in  the 
very  bosom  of  that  momentary  anarchy  where  the  brigands  have  plunged 
us — there  is  still  in  our  country  some  public  virtue,  some  respect  for 
humanity  left !  Perish  the  National  Assembly  and  its  memory,  if  upon 
our  ashes  our  more  fortunate  successors  may  establish  the  edifice  of  a  Con- 
stitution, which  shall  assure  the  happiness  of  France,  and  consolidate  the 
reign  of  liberty  and  equality  ! 

*  When  these  words  were  spoken  the  deputies  rose  with  intense  enthusiasm  and  repeated  the 
words  of  the  orator,  while  the  audience  in  the  galleries  added  their  cries  of  approval  to  the  tumult  on 
the  floor. 


1** 


GEORGE  JACQUES  DANTON  (J 7594 794) 

THE  MIRABEAU  OF  THE  SANS-CULOTTES  . 


DARGE  of  frame,  dauntless  of  spirit,  passionate  of  temperament,] 
powerful  in  voice,  Danton  was  well  adapted  for  political  ora- 
tory and  revolutionary  times.     In  quiet  days  he  would  not] 
have  shone,  but  in  the  whirlpool  of  the  French  Revolution  he  was  at 
home,  while  his  fervid  and  splendid  oratory  made  him  the  favorite  oi 
the  Parisian  populace.     "  Nothing  was  wanting  to  make  Danton 
great  man — except  virtue,"  said  Lamartine,  and  this  well  descril 
him.     His  famous  sayings  :  *'  To  dare,  again  to  dare,  always  to  dare," 
and  "  Let  France  be  free,  though  my  name  be  accursed,"  speak  vol- 
umes for  the  boldness  and  patriotism  of  the  man.     Before  men  like 
him,  and  sentiments  like  these,  the  old  institutions  could  not  stand^ 
The  club  founded  by  him,  that  of  the  Cordeliers,  was  more  radicf 
even  than  that  of  the  Jacobins.     For  a   time,  Danton,    Marat  an< 
Robespierre  ruled  the  Revolution.     Then  a  break  took  place  betweei 
them,  and  while  Danton  hesitated  Robespierre  acted.     The  natun 
result  followed,  the  guillotine  became  his  fate. 

LET  FRANCE  BE  FREE, 

[The  disasters  of  the  French  armies  on  the  frontier  called  out  from  Danton  ini 
the  Convention,  March  lo,  1793,  one  of  his  most  impassioned  addresses.  Of  this  we 
give  the  telling  closing  portion,  in  which  occurs  one  of  his  most  famous  sentences.] 

The  general  considerations  that  have  been  presented  to  you  are  true ; 
but  at  this  moment  it  is  less  necessary  to  examine  the  causes  of  the  disas- 
ters that  have  struck  us  than  to  apply  their  remedy  rapidly.  When  the 
edifice  is  on  fire,  I  do  not  join  the  rascals  who  would  steal  the  furniture,. 
I  extinguish  the  flames.  I  tell  you,  therefore,  you  should  be  convinced 
by  the  dispatches  of  Dumouriez  that  you  have  not  a  moment  to  spare  in 
saving  the  Republic. 
598 


i 


GEORGE  JACQUES  DANTON  599 

Dutnouriez  conceived  a  plan  which  did  honor  to  his  genius.  I  would 
render  him  greater  justice  and  praise  than  I  did  recently.  But  three 
months  ago  he  announced  to  the  executive  power,  your  General  Com- 
mittee of  Defence,  that  if  we  were  not  audacious  enough  to  invade  Hol- 
land in  the  middle  of  winter,  to  declare  instantly  against  England  the  war 
which  actually  we  had  long  been  making,  that  we  would  double  the 
difficulties  of  our  campaign,  in  giving  our  enemies  the  time  to  deploy 
their  forces.  Since  we  failed  to  recognize  this  stroke  of  his  genius,  we 
must  now  repair  our  faults. 

Dumouriez  is  not  discouraged  ;  he  is  in  the  middle  of  Holland,  where 
he  will  find  munitions  of  war.  To  overthrow  all  our  enemies,  he  wants 
but  Frenchmen,  and  France  is  filled  with  citizens.  Would  we  be  free  ? 
If  we  no  longer  desire  it,  let  us  perish,  for  we  have  all  sworn  it.  If  we 
wish  it,  let  all  march  to  defend  our  independence.  Your  enemies  are 
making  their  last  efforts.  Pitt,  recognizing  he  has  all  to  lose,  dares  spare 
nothing.  Take  Holland,  and  Carthage  is  destroyed,  and  England  can  no 
longer  exist  but  for  liberty  !    .    .    .    . 

Expediate,  then,  your  commissioners  ;  sustain  them  with  your  energy; 
let  them  leave  this  very  night,  this  very  evening.  I^et  them  say  to  the 
opulent  classes,  *'  The  aristocracy  of  Europe  must  succumb  to  our  efforts 
and  pay  our  debt,  or  you  will  have  to  pay  it !  "  The  people  have  nothing 
but  blood, — they  lavish  it  !  Go,  then,  ingrates,  and  lavish  your  wealth  ! 
See,  citizens,  the  fair  destinies  that  await  you.  What !  You  have  a 
whole  nation  as  a  lever,  its  reason  as  your  fulcrum,  and  you  have  not  yet 
upturned  the  world  !  To  do  this  we  need  firmness  and  character,  and  of 
a  truth  we  lack  it.  I  put  to  one  side  all  passions.  They  are  all  strangers 
to  me  save  a  passion  for  the  public  good. 

In  the  most  difficult  situations,  when  the  enemy  was  at  the  gates  of 
Paris,  I  said  to  those  governing :  *'  Your  discussions  are  shameful,  I  can 
see  but  the  enemy.  You  tire  me  by  squabbling  in  place  of  occupying  your- 
selves with  the  safety  of  the  Republic  !  I  repudiate  you  all  as  traitors  to 
our  country  !  I  place  you  all  in  the  same  line  !  "  I  said  to  them  : 
"  What  care  I  for  my  reputation  !  Let  France  be  free,  though  my  name 
were  accursed!"  What  care  I  that  I  am  called  a  ''blood-drinker"! 
Well,  let  us  drink  the  blood  of  the  enemies  of  humanity,  if  needful ;  but 
let  us  struggle,  let  us  achieve  freedom.  Some  fear  the  departure  of  the 
commissioners  may  weaken  one  or  the  other  section  of  this  convention. 
Vain  fears  !  Carry  your  energy  everywhere.  The  pleasantest  declaration 
will  be  to  announce  to  the  people  that  the  terrible  debt  weighing  upon 
them  will  be  wrested  from  their  enemies  or  that  the  rich  will  shortly  have 
to  pay  it.     The  national  situation  is  cruel.     The  representatives  of  value 


600  GEORGE  JACQUES    DANTON 

are  no  longer  in  equilibrium  in  the  circulation.  The  day  of  the  working- 
man  is  lengthened  beyond  necessity.  A  great  corrective  measure  is 
necessary !  The  conquerors  of  Holland  will  reanimate  in  England  the 
Republican  party  ;  let  us  advance  France  and  we  shall  go  glorified  to  pos- 
terity. Achieve  these  grand  destinies  ;  no  more  debates,  no  more  quar- 
rels, and  the  Farherland  is  saved. 

TO  DARE!    ALWAYS  TO  DARE 

[With  this  stirring  sentence  Danton  ended  his  notable  speech  in  defence  of  the 
Republic,  on  September  2,  1792.] 

It  seems  a  satisfaction  for  the  ministers  of  a  free  people  to  announce 
to  them  that  their  country  will  be  saved.  All  are  stirred,  all  are  enthused, 
all  burn  to  enter  the  combat.  You  know  that  Verdun  is  not  yet  in  the 
power  of  our  enemies,  and  that  its  garrison  swears  to  immolate  the  first 
one  who  breathes  a  proposition  to  surrender. 

One  portion  of  our  people  will  guard  our  frontiers,  another  will  dig 
and  arm  the  entrenchments,  the  third  with  pikes  will  defend  the  interior 
of  our  cities.     Paris  will  second  these  great  efibrts.     The  commissioners 
of  the  Commune  will  solemnly  proclaim  to  the  citizens  the  invitation  to 
arm  and  march  to  the  defence  of  the  country.     At  such  a  moment  you 
can  proclaim  that  the  capital  deserves  the  esteem  of  all  France,     At  such 
a  moment  this  National  Assembly  becomes  a  veritable  committee  of  war. 
We  ask  that  you  concur  with  us  in  directing  this  sublime  movement  of  th^ 
people,  by  naming  commissioners  to  second  and  assist  all  these  great  me£ 
sures.     We  ask  that  any  one  refusing  to  give  personal  service  or  to  furnisl 
arms,  shall  meet  the  punishment  of  death.     We  ask  that  proper  instrucj 
tions  be  given  to  the  citizens  to  direct  their  movements.     We  ask  thi 
carriers  be  sent  to  all  the  departments  to  notify  them  of  the  decrees  thj 
you  proclaim  here.     The  tocsin  we  shall  sound  is  not  the  alarm  signal 
danger,  it  orders  the  charge  on  the  enemies  of  France.     At  such  a  momei 
this  National  Assembly  becomes  a  veritable  committee  of  war.     We  aj 
that  you  concur  with  us  in  directing  this  sublime  movement  of  the  people 
by  naming  commissioners  to  second  and  assist  all  these  great  measures] 
We  ask  that  any  one  refusing  to  give  personal  service  or  to  furnish  arms^ 
shall  meet  the  punishment  of  death.     We  ask  that  proper  instructions  be 
given  to  the  citizens  to  direct  their  movements.     We  ask  that  carriers  be 
sent  to  all  the  departments  to  notify  them  of  the  decrees  that  you  proclaim 
here.     The  tocsin  we  shall  sound  is  not  the  alarm  signal  of  danger,  it 
orders  the  charge  on  the  enemies  of  France.     To  conquer  we  have  need  fo 
dare  !  to  dare  again  !   always  to  dare  !     And  France  will  be  saved  ! 


I 


JEAN  PAUL  MARAT  (J 743-1 793) 

''THE  FRIEND  OF  THE  PEOPLE '^ 


BERHAPS  no  man  in  all  history  has  won  the  more  universal 
reprobation  of  mankind  than  the  bloodthirsty  Marat,  the  fero- 
cious enemy  alike  of  royalists  and  his  political  opponents,  for 
whose  opinions  he  had  but  one  cure — the  guillotine.  In  1789  he 
stirred  up  the  passions  of  the  mob  by  his  journal,  ''  The  Friend  of  the 
People,^'  and  was  long  obliged  to  live  in  cellars  and  sewers  to  escape 
the  officers  of  the  law,  charged  to  arrest  him  for  his  incendiary  utter- 
ances. He  was  elected  to  the  Convention  in  1792,  and  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Danton  and  Robespierre,  inaugurated  the  "  Reign  of  Ter- 
ror," he  acting  as  a  public  accuser  of  all  whom  he  wished  to  remove 
by  death.  Tried  on  a  charge  of  outrages  against  the  Convention  in 
May,  1793,  he  was  triumphantly  acquitted  ;  but  two  months  after- 
ward the  patriotic  hand  of  Charlotte  Corday  ended  the  career  of  this 
monster  in  human  form.  The  only  charitable  view  that  can  be  taken 
of  Marat's  conduct  is  that  he  was  the  victim  of  a  diseased  mind.  Cer- 
tainly his  body  was  so  deeply  diseased  that  the  knife  of  the  avenger 
only  shortly  anticipated  his  death  from  natural  causes. 

A  DEFENCE  FROM  IMPEACHMENT 

[Threatened  with  impeachment  for  his  course,  Marat  defended  himself  before  the 
Convention  in  the  following  specious  words,  in  which  he  seemed  to  indicate  that  his 
plan  for  settling  the  affairs  of  the  state  was  to  give  increased  activity  to  the  guil- 
lotine.] 

I  shuddered  at  the  vehement  and  disorderly  movements  of  the  people, 
when  I  saw  them  prolonged  beyond  the  necessary  point.  In  order  that 
these  movements  should  not  forever  fail,  and  to  avoid  the  necessity  of 
their  recommencement,  I  proposed  that  some  wise  and  just  citizen  should 
be  named,  known  for  his  attachment  to  freedom,  to  take  the  direction  of 

601 


602  JEAN  PAUL  MARAT 

them,  and  render  them  conducive  to  the  great  ends  of  public  freedom.  If 
the  people  could  have  appreciated  the  wisdom  of  that  proposal,  if  they 
had  adopted  it  in  all  its  plenitude,  they  would  have  swept  off,  on  the  day 
the  Bastille  was  taken,  five  hundred  heads  from  the  conspirators.  Every- 
thing, had  this  been  done,  would  now  have  been  tranquil.  For  the  same 
reason,  I  have  frequently  proposed  to  give  instantaneous  authority  to  a 
wise  man,  under  the  name  of  tribune,  or  dictator, — the  title  signifies 
nothing  ;  but  the  proof  that  I  meant  to  chain  him  to  the  public  service  is, 
that  I  insisted  that  he  should  have  a  bullet  at  his  feet,  and  that  he  should 
have  no  power  but  to  strike  off  criminal  heads.  Such  was  my  opinion  ;  I 
have  expressed  it  freely  in  private,  and  given  it  all  the  currency  possible 
in  my  writings ;  I  have  afiixed  my  name  to  these  compositions  ;  I  am  not 
ashamed  of  them ;  if  you  cannot  comprehend  them,  so  much  the  worse 
for  you.  The  days  of  trouble  are  not  yet  terminated  ;  already  a  hundred 
thousand  patriots  have  been  massacred  because  you  would  not  listen  to 
my  voice ;  a  hundred  thousand  more  will  suffer,  or  are  menaced  with 
destruction  ;  if  the  people  falter,  anarchy  will  never  come  to  an  end.  I 
have  diffused  these  opinions  among  the.  public  ;  if  they  are  dangerous, 
let  enlightened  men  refute  them  with  the  proofs  in  their  hands.  For  my 
own  part,  I  declare  I  would  be  the  first  to  adopt  their  ideas,  and  to  give  a. 
signal  proof  of  my  desire  for  peace,  order,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  laws, 
whenever  I  am  convinced  of  their  justice. 

Am  I  accused  of  ambitious  views  ?  I  will  not  condescend  to  vindi-, 
cate  myself;  examine  my  conduct;  judge  my  life.  If  I  had  chosen  t( 
sell  my  silence  for  profit,  I  might  have  now  been  the  object  of  favor  toj 
the  court.  What,  on  the  other  hand,  has  been  my  fate  ?  I  have  buried! 
myself  in  dungeons  ;  condemned  myself  to  every  species  of  danger ;  the] 
sword  of  twenty  thousand  assassins  is  perpetually  suspended  over  me  ;  ij 
preached  the  truth  with  my  head  laid  on  the  block.  I^et  those  who  arej 
now  terrifying  you  with  the  shadow  of  a  dictator,  unite  with  me  ;  unitel 
with  all  true  patriots,  press  the  assembly  to  expedite  the  great  measures] 
which  will  secure  the  happiness  of  the  people,  and  I  will  cheerfully  mount 
the  scafibld  any  day  of  my  life. 


t 


MAXIMILIEN  ISIDORE  DE  ROBESPIERRE 

(1 758- J  794) 

THE  BLOODHOUND  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


mHE  character  of  Robespierre  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
to  be  found  in  all  history.  He  remains  an  enigma.  By  some 
he  is  regarded  as  a  fanatic,  with  an  honest  devotion  to  his 
country  at  the  basis  of  his  massacres ;  by  others  as  a  crafty  and  piti- 
less demagogue.  If  we  should  judge  by  his  utterances,  we  must 
believe  him  sincere  and  deeply  religious ;  if  by  his  acts,  it  is  difficult  to 
find  words  to  express  our  abhorrence.  The  remark  of  Mirabeau  may 
help  to  solve  the  enigma  of  his  life  :  "  He  will  go  far,  for  he  believes 
all  he  says.^'  He  certainly  went  far,  for  he  was  the  inspiring  spirit  of 
the  frightful  Reign  of  Terror,  As  an  orator  Robespierre  lacked  native 
powers.  He  had  not  the  gift  of  extemporaneous  speech,  of  fine  voice, 
or  of  commanding  personality. 

A  FINAL  APPEAL 

[If  we  could  judge  from  Robespierre's  speeches,  he  was  a  much  maligned  indi- 
vidual, a  moralist  driven  to  severity  by  the  vices  of  his  enemies.  He  tells  us  in  his 
speech  on  the  sentence  of  the  king,  '  *  I  abhor  the  punishment  of  death,  inflicted  so 
unsparingly  by  your  laws  ....  but  Louis  must  die,  because  the  country  must  live." 
In  a  later  speech,  when  the  guillotine  was  doing  its  bloodiest  work  at  his  command, 
he  earnestly,  almost  pathetically,  maintains  his  belief  in  a  Supreme  Being  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  In  his  final  speech,  made  the  day  before  his  death,  to  an 
assembly  thirsting  for  his  blood,  he  poses  still  as  the  patriot  and  the  maligned 
moralist.] 

The  enemies  of  the  Republic  call  me  tyrant !  Were  I  such  they 
would  grovel  at  my  feet.  I  should  gorge  them  with  gold,  I  should  grant 
them  impunity  for  their  crimes,  and  they  would  be  grateful.  Were  I  such, 
the  kings  we  have  vanquished,  far  from  denouncing  Robespierre,  would 
lend  me  their  guilty  support.     There  would  be  a  covenant  between  them 

603 


604  MAXIMILIEN    ISIDORE   DE  ROBESPIERRE 

and  me.  Tyranny  must  have  tools.  But  the  enemies  of  tyranny, — 
whither  does  their  path  tend  ?  To  the  tomb  and  to  immortality  !  What 
tyrant  is  my  protector  ?  To  what  faction  do  I  belong  ?  Yourselves  ! 
What  faction,  since  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  has  crushed  and 
annihilated  so  many  detected  traitors  ?  You — the  people,  our  principles, 
— are  that  faction  !  A  faction  to  which  I  am  devoted,  and  against  which 
all  the  scoundrelism  of  the  day  is  banded  ! 

The  confirmation  of  the  Republic  has  been  my  object ;  and  I  know 
that  the  Republic  can  be  established  only  on  the  eternal  basis  of  morality. 
Against  me,  and  against  those  who  hold  kindred  principles,  the  league  is 
formed.  My  life  ?  O  !  my  life  I  abandon  without  a  regret !  I  have  seen 
the  past ;  and  I  foresee  the  future.  What  friend  of  his  country  would 
wish  to  survive  the  moment  he  could  no  longer  serve  it, — when  he  could 
no  longer  defend  innocence  against  oppression  ?  Wherefore  should  I  con- 
tinue in  an  order  of  things  where  intrigue  eternally  triumphs  over  truth  ; 
where  justice  is  mocked  ;  where  passions  the  most  abject,  or  fears  the  most 
absurd,  override  the  sacred  interests  of  humanity  ? 

In  witnessing  the  multitude  of  vices  which  the  torrent  of  the  Revo- 
lution has  rolled  in  turbid  communion  with  its  civic  virtues,  I  confess 
that  I  have  sometimes  feared  that  I  should  be  sullied,  in  the  eyes  of  pos- 
terity, by  the  impure  neighborhood  of  unprincipled  men,  who  had  thrust 
themselves  into  association  with  the  sincere  friends  of  humanity  ;  and  I 
rejoice  that  these  conspirators  against  my  country  have  now,  by  their 
reckless  rage,  traced  deep  the  line  of  demarcation  between  themselves  and 
all  true  men. 

Question  history,  and  learn  how  all  the  defenders  of  liberty,  in  all 
times,  have  been  overwhelmed  by  calumny.  But  their  traducers  died  also. 
The  good  and  the  bad  disappear  alike  from  the  earth  ;  but  in  very  dif- 
ferent conditions.  O,  Frenchmen  !  O,  my  countrymen  !  Let  not  your 
enemies,  with  their  desolating  doctrines,  degrade  your  souls,  and  enervate 
your  virtues  !  No,  Chaumette,*  no  !  Death  is  not  *'  an  eternal  sleep  "  ! 
Citizens  !  efface  from  the  tomb  that  motto,  graven  by  sacrilegious  hands, 
which  spreads  over  all  nature  a  funeral  crape,  takes  from  oppressed  inno- 
cence its  support,  and  affronts  the  beneficent  dispensation  of  death ! 
Inscribe  rather  thereon  these  words  :  ' '  Death  is  the  commencement  of 
immortality  !  "  I  leave  to  the  oppressors  of  the  people  a  terrible  testa- 
ment, which  I  proclaim  with  the  independence  befitting  one  whose  career 
is  so  nearly  ended  ;  it  is  the  awful  truth, — "  Thou  shalt  die  ! ' ' 


*  Chaumette  was  a  member  of  the  Convention,  who  was  opposed  to  the  public  recognition  of  a 
God  and  the  future  state. 


^&ri    FOUR  FRENCH  ORATORS  AN  D  STATESM  EN 


Victor  Cousin  and  Victor  Hugo  were  distinguished  orators  and 
writers,  and  Louis  A.  Thiers  and  Leon  Gambetta  were  distin- 
guished statesmen  and  orators  of  France  in  the  19th  Century 


m 


BOOK  VIIL 

Nineteenth  Century  Orators  of  France 

THE  history  of  France  in  recent  times  has  been 
unique  and  highly  interesting.  Nowhere  else 
in  history  can  be  found  the  record  of  a  coun- 
try that  had  four  political  revolutions,  each  followed 
by  a  transformation  in  the  government,  within  a  cen- 
tury. Such  has  been  the  case  in  France.  The 
unparalleled  revolution  of  1789  was  follow^ed  by  feeb- 
ler copies  in  1830,  1848  and  1871,  a  republic  following 
the  monarchy  in  three  of  these  cases,  while  a  change 
of  dynasty  took  place  in  the  second.  Here  was 
abundant  political  change,  uprooting  of  old  institu- 
tions, exposure  of  administrative  abuses,  radical  vari- 
ations in  conditions.  In  all  this  there  was  abun- 
dant occasion  for  oratory,  and  that  of  the  most  strenu- 
ous character.  The  type  of  eloquence  to  which  the 
first  revolution  gave  occasion  we  have  already  shown. 
That  of  the  succeeding  ones  was  less  vehement. 
Only  one  orator  of  recent  France  can  be  named  who 
in  any  sense  compares  in  character  with  those  of  the 
age  of  Mirabeau.  This  is  Victor  Hugo,  whose 
assaults  on  "Napoleon  the  Little"  were  as  cutting  and 
virulent  as  the  most  unbridled  diatribes  of  the  days 
of  the  guillotine.  As  a  rule,  however,  the  nineteenth 
century  oratory  of  France  was  in  a  quieter  and  more 
classical  vein,  some  of  the  most  famous  and  polished 
orators  winning  their  reputation  on  non-political  issues. 
As  regards  the  leaders  in  political  oratory — Lamar- 
tine,  Thiers,  Gambetta  and  others — those,  while  vig- 
orous and  aggressive  in  tone,  were  of  a  far  milder 
type  than  the  fiery  orators  of  the  previous  century  or 
the  indignant  and  incisive  Hugo  of  their  own. 

005 


VICTOR  COUSIN  (J 7924 867) 

AN  EMINENT  ORATOR  AND  PmLOSOPHER 


mHE  Sorbonne,  a  famous  college  at  Paris  of  ancient  institution, 
possessed  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  three 
lecturers  of  wide  fame,  Cousin,  Guizot  and  Villemain,  the 
former  two  in  especial  having  a  world-wide  reputation.  Cousin  was 
appointed  to  the  chair  of  philosophy  in  1815,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
delivered  eloquent  and  popular  lectures  to  large  audiences,  his  lectures 
displaying  an  admirable  combination  of  sensibility,  imagination  and 
reason.*  His  popularity  was  immense,  but  his  liberal  opinions  caused 
him  to  be  deprived  of  his  professorship  in  1820,  though  he  was 
replaced  in  1828.  His  lectures,  which  were  prepared  with  the  care  of 
those  of  Demosthenes  and  Cicero  in  the  past,  of  Kuskin,  Emerson  and 
others  in  the  present  age,  were  published  in  book  form,  one  series  of 
them  being  on  "  The  True,  the  Beautiful  and  the  Good."  He  wrote 
various  other  works,  developing  an  eclectic  system  of  philosophy  of 
high  estimation.  After  the  revolution  of  1830,  Cousin,  like  Guizot, 
entered  upon  a  political  career,  and  for  a  time,  in  1840,  was  Minister 
of  Public  Instruction.  His  speeches  in  the  Chambers  displayed 
superior  powers  of  oratory.  He  took  no  part  in  public  affairs  after 
the  Revolution  of  1848. 

SUPREMACY  OF  THE  ART  OF  POETRY 

[The  following  eloquent  passage,  in  which  the  claim  of  poetry  to  supremacy 
over  its  sister  arts  is  effectively  presented,  is  from  one  of  Cousin's  lectures  on  **The 
True,  the  Beautiful  and  the  Good."] 

The  art  par  excellence,  that  which  surpasses  all  others,  because  it  is 
incomparably  the  most  expressive,  is  poetry. 

Speech  is  the  instrument  of  poetry  ;  poetry  fashions  it  to  its  use,  and 
idealizes  it,  in  order  to  make  it  express  ideal  beauty.  Poetry  gives  to  it 
the  charm  and  power  of  measure  ;  is  makes  of  it  something  intermediary 
606 


1 


VICTOR   COUSIN  607 

between  the  ordinary  voice  and  music — something  at  once  material  and 
immaterial,  finite,  clear,  and  precise ;  like  contours  and  forms,  the  most 
definite,  living,  and  animated  ;  like  color  pathetic,  and  infinite  like  sound. 

A  word  in  itself,  especially  a  word  chosen  and  transfigured  by  poetry, 
is  the  most  energetic  and  universal  symbol.  Armed  with  this  talisman, 
poetry  reflects  all  the  images  of  the  sensible  world,  like  sculpture  and 
painting ;  it  reflects  sentiment  like  painting  and  music,  with  all  its 
varieties,  which  music  does  not  attain,  and  in  their  rapid  succession  which 
painting  cannot  follow,  as  precise  and  immobile  as  sculpture  ;  and  it  not 
only  expresses  all  that,  it  expresses  what  is  inaccessible  to  every  other 
art : — I  mean  thought,  entirely  distinct  from  the  senses  and  even  from 
sentiment ;  thought  that  has  no  forms  ;  thought  that  has  no  color,  that 
lets  no  sound  escape,  that  does  not  manifest  itself  in  any  way  ;  thought  in 
its  highest  flight,  in  its  most  refined  abstraction. 

Think  of  it !  What  a  world  of  images,  of  sentiments,  of  thoughts  at 
once  distinct  and  confused,  are  excited  within  us  by  this  one  word — coun- 
try !  and  by  this  other  word,  brief  and  immense — God  !  What  is  more 
clear  and  altogether  more  profound  and  vast ! 

Tell  the  architect,  the  sculptor,  the  painter,  even  the  musician,  to  call 
forth  also  by  a  single  stroke  all  the  powers  of  nature  and  the  soul.  They 
cannot ;  and  by  that  they  acknowledge  the  superiority  of  speech  and  poetry. 
They  proclaim  it  themselves,  for  they  take  poetry  for  their  own  measure  ; 
they  esteem  their  own  works,  and  demand  that  they  should  be  esteemed, 
in  proportion  as  they  approach  the  poetic  ideal.  And  the  human  race 
does  as  artists  do ;  a  beautiful  picture,  a  noble  melody,  a  living  and 
expressive  statue,  gives  rise  to  the  exclamation,  How  poetical  !  This  is 
not  an  arbitrary  comparison ;  it  is  a  natural  judgment  which  makes  poetry 
the  type  of  the  perfection  of  all  the  arts  ;  the  art  par  excellence,  which  com- 
prises all  others,  to  which  they  aspire,  which  none  can  reach. 

When  the  other  arts  would  imitate  the  works  of  poetry,  they  usually 
err,  losing  their  own  genius  without  robbing  poetry  of  its  genius.  But 
poetry  constructs,  according  to  its  own  taste,  palaces  and  temples,  like 
architecture ;  it  makes  them  simple  or  magnificent ;  all  orders,  as  well  as 
all  systems,  obey  it ;  the  different  ages  of  art  are  the  same  to  it ;  it  repro- 
duces, if  it  please,  the  Classic  or  the  Gothic,  the  beautiful  or  the  sublime, 
the  measured  or  the  infinite. 

Lessing  has  been  able,  with  the  exactest  justice,  to  compare  Homer 
to  the  most  perfect  sculptor  ;  with  such  precision  are  the  forms  which  that 
marvelous  chisel  gives  to  all  things  determined.  And  what  a  painter,  too, 
is  Homer  !  And,  of  a  different  kind,  Dante  !  Music  alone  has  something 
more  penetrating  than  poetry,  but  it  is  vague,  limited,  and  fugitive. 


ALPHONSE  DE  LAMARTINE  (J 790-1 869) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  THE  J848  REVOLUTION 


ON  the  25th  of  February,  1848,  when  a  seditious  and  furious  mob 
traversed  the  streets  of  Paris,  demanding  the  red  flag  of  anarchy 
"— ^  instead  of  the  tricolor  of  the  Republic,  Alphonse  de  Lamartine, 
a  member  of  the  revolutionary  government,  appeared  before  them, 
and  in  a  passionate  burst  of  eloquence  calmed  their  feelings  and 
brought  them  back  to  reason.  Never  before  in  history  had  oratory 
won  a  triumph  like  this,  and  it  placed  Lamartine  high  among  politi- 
cal orators. 

Known  before  as  a  poet  of  splendid  powers,  and  as  a  historian  by 
his  brilliant  "History  of  the  Girondists,"  Lamartine,  in  1848,  became 
the  master  spirit  and  the  moderator  of  the  revolution,  repressing  the 
tendency  to  violence  by  admirable  displays  of  eloquence,  courage  and 
magnanimity,  and  winning  an  immense  popularity,  which,  however, 
was  not  long  lived.  His  decline  in  public  estimation  was  shown  in 
the  election  for  President  in  December,  1848,  in  which  he  received 
only  8000  votes.  During  the  remainder  of  his  life  he  produced  a 
number  of  valuable  historical  works. 

WHAT  IS  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

[Lamartine's  views  of  the  true  character  of  the  French  Revolution  and  of  the 
benefits  which  remained  after  its  reign  of  terror  had  passed  away,  are  well  shown  in 
the  following  extract  from  one  of  his  speeches.] 

What,  then,  is  the  French  Revolution  ?  Is  it,  as  the  adorers  of  the 
past  say,  a  great  sedition  of  a  nation  disturbed  for  no  reason,  and  destroy- 
ing in  their  insensate  convulsions  their  church,  their  monarchy,  their 
classes,  their  institutions,  their  nationality,  and  even  rending  the  map  of 
Europe  ?  No  !  the  Revolution  has  not  been  a  miserable  sedition  of 
COS 


1 


ALPHOKSE  DE   LAMARTINE  G09 

France  ;  for  a  sedition  subsides  as  it  rises,  and  leaves  nothing  but  corpses 
and  ruins  behind  it.  The  Revolution  has  left  scaffolds  and  ruins,  it  is 
true  ;  therein  is  its  remorse  ;  but  it  has  also  left  a  doctrine ;  it  has  left  a 
spirit  which  will  be  enduring  and  perpetual  so  long  as  human  reason 
shall  exist. 

We  are  not  inspired  by  the  spirit  of  faction  !     No  factious  idea  enters 
our  thoughts.     We  do   not   wish   to   compose   a  faction — we  compose 

I  opinion,  for  it  is  nobler,  stronger,  and  more  invincible.  Shall  we  have,  in 
our  first  struggles,  violence,  oppression  and  death  ?  No,  gentlemen  !  let 
us  give  thanks  to  our  fathers ;  it  shall  be  liberty  which  they  have 
bequeathed  to  us,  liberty  which  now  has  its  own  arms,  its  pacific  arms,  to 
develop  itself  without  anger  and  excess.  Therefore  shall  we  triumph — be 
sure  of  it !  and  if  you  ask  what  is  the  moral  force  that  shall  bend  the  gov- 
ernment beneath  the  will  of  the  nation,  I  will  answer  you  ;  it  is  the  sover- 
eignty of  ideas,  the  royalty  of  mind,  the  Republic,  the  true  Republic  of 
intelligence  ;  in  one  word,  opinion — that  modern  power  whose  very  name 
was  unknown  to  antiquity.  Gentlemen,  public  opinion  was  born  on  the 
very  day  when  Gutenberg,  who  has  been  styled  the  artificer  of  a  new 
world,  invented,  by  printing,  the  multiplication  and  indefinite  communi- 
cation of  thought  and  human  reason.  This  incomprehensible  power  of 
opinion  needs  not  for  its  sway  either  the  brand  of  vengeance,  the  sword  of 
justice,  or  the  scaffold  of  terror.  It  holds  in  its  hands  the  equilibrium 
between  ideas  and  institutions,  the  balance  of  the  human  mind.  In  one 
of  the  scales  of  this  balance — understand  it  well — will  be  for  a  long  time 
placed  mental  superstitions,  prejudices  self-styled  useful,  the  divine  right 
of  kings,  distinctions  of  right  among  classes,  international  animosities,  the 
spirit  of  conquest,  the  venal  alliance  of  Church  and  state,  the  censorship  of 
thought,  the  silence  of  tribunes,  and  the  ignorance  and  systematic  degrada- 
tion of  the  masses.  In  the  other  scale,  we  ourselves,  gentlemen,  will 
place  the  lightest  and  most  impalpable  thing  of  all  that  God  has  created — 
light,  a  little  of  that  light  which  the  French  Revolution  evoked  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century — from  a  volcano,  doubtless,  but  from  a  volcano 

of  truth. 

SAFETY  ONLY  IN  THE  REPUBLIC 

[From  Lamartine's  remarkable  speeches  of  1848  we  select  the  following  elo- 
quent appeal  for  the  Republic,  as  the  only  security  against  the  reign  of  anarchy  and 
[bloodshed  which  was  threatened  in  the  temper  of  the  populace.] 

For  my  part,  I  see  too  clearly  the  series  of  consecutive  catastrophes 
jl  should  be  preparing  for  my  country,  to  attempt  to  arrest  the  avalanche 
of  such  a  Revolution,  on  a  descent  where  no  dynastic  force  could  retain  it 
without  increasing  its  mass,  its  weight,  and  the  ruin  of  its  fall.  There  is, 
39 


610  ALPHONSE  DE  LAMARTINE 

I  repeat  to  you,  a  single  power  capable  of  preserving  the  people  from  the 
danger  with  which  a  revolution,  under  such  social  conditions,  menaces 
them,  and  this  is  the  power  of  the  people  ;  it  is  entire  liberty.  It  is  the 
suffrage,  will,  reason,  interest,  the  hand  and  arm  of  all — the  Republic  ! 

Yes,  it  is  the  Republic  alone  which  can  now  save  you  from  anarchy, 
civil  and  foreign  war,  spoliation,  the  scaffold,  the  decimation  of  property, 
the  overthrow  of  society  and  foreign  invasion.  The  remedy  is  heroic,  I 
know,  but  at  crises  of  times  and  ideas  like  these  in  which  we  live,  there  is 
no  effective  policy  but  one  as  great  and  audacious  as  the  crisis  itself.  By 
giving,  to-morrow,  the  Republic  in  its  own  name  to  the  people,  you  will 
instantly  disarm  it  of  the  watchword  of  agitation.  What  do  I  say  ?  You 
will  instantly  change  its  anger  into  joy,  its  fury  into  enthusiasm.  All  who 
have  the  Republican  sentiment  at  heart,  all  who  have  had  a  dream  of  the 
Republic  in  their  imaginations,  all  who  regret,  all  who  aspire,  all  who 
reason,  all  who  dream  in  France, — Republicans  of  the  secret  societies, 
Republicans  militant,  speculative  Republicans,  the  people,  the  tribunes, 
the  youth,  the  schools,  the  journalists,  men  of  hand  and  men  of  head — 
will  utter  but  one  cry,  will  gather  round  their  standard,  will  arm  to  defend 
it,  but  will  rally,  confusedly  at  first,  but  in  order  afterwards,  to  protect  the 
government,  and  to  preserve  society  itself  behind  this  government  of  all — a 
supreme  force  which  may  have  its  agitations,  never  its  dethronements  and 
its  ruins  ;  for  this  government  rests  on  the  very  foundations  of  the  nation. 
It  alone  appeals  to  all.  This  government  only  can  maintain  itself;  this 
alone  can  govern  itself;  this  only  can  unite,  in  the  voices  and  hands  of 
all,  the  reason  and  will,  the  arms  and  suffrages;  necessary  to  serve  not  only 
the  nation  from  servitude,  but  society,  the  family  relation,  property  and 
morality,  which  are  menaced  by  the  cataclysm  of  ideas  which  are  ferment- 
ing beneath  the  foundations  of  this  half-crumbled  throne. 

If  anarchy  can  be  subdued,  mark  it  well,  it  is  by  the  Republic  !  If 
communism  can  be  conquered,  it  is  by  the  Republic  !  If  revolution  can 
be  moderated,  it  is  by  the  Republic  !  If  blood  can  be  spared,  it  is  by  the 
Republic  !  If  universal  war,  if  the  invasion  it  would  perhaps  bring  on  as 
the  reaction  of  Europe  upon  us,  can  be  avoided,  understand  it  well  once 
more,  it  is  by  the  Republic.  This  is  why,  in  reason,  and  in  conscience, 
as  a  statesman,  before  God  and  before  you,  as  free  from  illusion  as  from 
fanaticism,  if  the  hour  in  which  we  deliberate  is  pregnant  with  a  revolu- 
tion, I  will  not  conspire  for  a  counter-revolution.  I  conspire  for  non( 
but  if  we  must  have  one,  I  will  accept  it  entire,  and  I  will  decide  for 
Republic  ! 


LOUIS  ADOLPHE  THIERS  (1 797- J 877) 

AN  ORATOR  OF  THE  OPPOSITION 


mHIERS  was  one  of  that  patriotic  band  who  vigorously  opposed 
the  imperial  methods  of  Louis  Napoleon,  not,  like  Victor 
Hugo,  in  exile,  but  on  the  floor  of  the  French  Parliament. 
He  was  an  orator  of  the  opposition  in  the  latter  years  of  Louis  Phil- 
ippe's reign,  and  when  Napoleon  seized  the  empire  he  ceased  to  be  his 
partisan  and  became  his  persistent  foe.  In  1867  he  made  a  strong 
speech  against  Napoleon's  foreign  policy,  and  in  1870  he  vigorously 
opposed  the  war  with  Prussia,  declaring  that  Napoleon  had  commit- 
ted another  blunder.  When  the  French  Republic  was  organized,  in 
1871,  he  was  elected  its  President,  but  resigned  in  1873,  after  having 
done  much  to  overcome  the  evil  effects  of  the  war.  As  a  historical 
author  he  is  known  for  his  ''  History  of  the  Revolution  "  and  "  His- 
tory of  the  Consulate  and  Empire,"  two  works  that  have  been  very 
widely  read.  As  a  statesman  he  was  a  man  of  indomitable  courage 
and  of  deep  and  genuine  patriotism. 

THE  WASTEFULNESS  OF  THE  IMPERIAL  HNANCE. 

[As  a  favorable  example  of  the  oratorical  manner  of  M.  Thiers,  we  offer  a  selec- 
tion from  his  speech  in  the  Budget  of  June  2,  1865,  in  which  he  points  out,  with  a 
critical  and  sarcastic  clearness  that  must  have  been  very  annoying  to  the  administra- 
tion, the  wilful  blindness  with  which  the  revenues  of  the  empire  were  being  expended.] 

Since  our  new  institutions  diminished  the  share  which  our  nation 
took  in  managing  its  own  affairs,  it  was  feared  that  the  activity  of  mind 
with  which  I  am  reproached  might  be  dangerous,  unless  means  should  be 
found  to  occupy  the  attention  of  the  country.  These  means,  sometimes 
dangerous,  always  odious,  have  been  wars  abroad,  and  enormous  expendi- 
ture and  great  speculations  at  home.  After  great  wars  come  small  ones — 
email,  if  we  consider  the  number  of  men  engaged,  but  large  if  we  consider 

Gil 


612 


LOUIS  ADOLPHE  THIERS 


their  distance  and  the  serious  complications  they  may  cause.  The  war 
in  Mexico  has  already  cost  us  more  than  the  Italian  war,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  complications  it  may  entail.  The  war  expenditure,  has,  of  course, 
been  met  by  loans,  and  the  public  debt  has  consequently  been  consider- 
ably increased.  Next  come  our  great  public  works,  an  excellent  employ- 
ment for  the  country's  savings  in  times  of  peace,  as  every  sensible  man 
will  acknowledge  ;  but  we  ought  to  proceed  prudently. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose,  as  some  do,  that  there  need  be  no  limit  to 
the  application  of  our  savings  to  public  works  ;  agriculture  and  manufac- 
tures ought  to  have  their  share,  and  if  only  a  portion  should  be  employed 
by  the  State  in  improving  roads,  canals  and  other  means  of  communica- 
tion, still  less  should  be  devoted  to  the  mere  embellishment  of  towns.  It 
is  certainly  necessary  to  widen  the  streets  and  improve  the  salubrity  of 
cities,  but  there  is  no  necessity  for  such  vast  changes  as  have  been  oper- 
ated in  Paris,  where,  I  think,  all  reasonable  limits  have  been  es^ceeded. 
The  contagion  of  example  is  to  be  feared  The  proverb  says  that  he  who 
commits  one  folly  is  wise.  If  Paris  only  were  to  be  rebuilt  I  should  not 
have  much  to  say  against  it,  but  you  know  what  I^a  Fontaine  wittily  says : 

'*  Every  citizen  must  build  like  a  lord, 
Every  little  prince  have  his  ambassadors, 
Every  marquis  have  his  pages.' 

The  glory  of  the  Prefect  of  the  Seine  has  troubled  all  the  prefects. 
The  Prefect  of  the  Seine  has  rebuilt  the  Tuileries,  and  the  Prefect  of  the 
Bouches-du-Rh6ne  wants  to  have  his  Tuileries  also. 

Last  year  the  Minister  of  State  answered  me  that  only  a  trifling 
expenditure  was  intended,  not  more  than  six  millions ;  but  it  appears 
from  the  debates  of  the  Council-General  that  the  expense  will  be  twelve 
or  fourteen  millions,  and  some  persons  say  as  much  as  twenty  millions. 
I  know  that  the  Prefect  of  the  Bouches-du-Rh6ne  is  a  senator ;  but  if  it 
takes  twelve  millions  to  build  him  a  residence,  that  is  a  large  sum.  AUj 
the  other  prefects  will  be  eager  to  follow  his  example,  as  the  Prefect  of] 
Lisle  is  already.  The  sub-prefects,  also,  will  want  new  residences  and 
new  furniture.  Where  would  all  this  lead  to  ?  The  Minister  of  Public 
Works,  full  of  glory,  must  have  more  consideration  for  the  cares  of  the 
Minister  of  Finance.  But  here  we  have  a  new  Minister  of  Public  Works, 
with  a  new  glory  to  make,  and  demands  for  millions  multiply. 

The  Minister  of  Finance  defends  himself  as  well  as  he  can,  but 
appears  to  be  conquered  ;  he  might  resist  by  resigning,  certainly ;  but 
that  is  a  means  borrowed  from  past  days.  A  compromise  is  at  least 
effected.  To  spare  the  Treasury,  one  hundred  millions  are  to  be  obtained 
by  selling  part  of  the  State  forests.     For  this,  however,  your  consent  is 


LOUIS  ADOLPHE  THIERS  613 

necessary ;  but  the  matter  is  settled  in  principle,  and  the  public  domain 
will  supply  the  funds  which  the  Treasury  refuses.  By  whom  is  this  tor- 
rent of  expenditure  to  be  arrested  ?  By  yourselves,  gentlemen  !  Your 
wisdom,  courage  and  patriotism  can  alone  achieve  the  task.  Your  respon- 
sibility is  great,  especially  in  financial  matters ;  in  politics  your  powers 
may  be  contested  to  a  certain  extent,  but  in  questions  of  finance  they  are 
undisputed.  In  finances  you,  therefore,  are  responsible  for  everything. 
It  is  time  to  halt  in  this  course  of  expenditure,  and  not  to  imitate  those 
sinners  who  are  always  talking  of  reforming  and,  after  all,  die  in  financial 
impenitence. 

We  are  often  told  that  financial  science  is  obscure,  but  the  assertion 
is  untrue.  Sciences  are  never  obscure,  except  through  the  dullness  of 
those  who  expound  them,  or  the  charletanism  of  those  who  assume  a  false 
air  of  profundity.  I  will  take  my  examples  from  private  life.  Let  us 
suppose  two  fathers;  one  methodical,  strict  and  somewhat  morose;  the 
other  easy  and  good  natured.  The  former  will  regulate  his  expenditure 
according  to  his  income,  and  fix  limits  which  he  will  not  pass ;  during 
the  year  this  may  cause  some  deprivation  to  himself  and  his  family,  but 
when  settling  day  comes  he  has  neither  anxiety  nor  embarrassment.  The 
latter  takes  no  such  precautions ;  he  passes  quietly  through  the  year, 
restricting  neither  his  own  expenditure  nor  that  of  his  family  ;  but  when 
he  settles  his  accounts  he  finds  he  has  exceeded  his  income,  and  is  obliged 
to  encroach  on  his  capital  to  pay  his  debts  ;  and  thus  he  goes  on  from  year 
to  year,  with  ever-increasing  embarrassment,  until  ruin  stares  him  in  the 
face.  The  stern  father,  meanwhile,  has  preserved  or  even  increased  his 
estate,  and  taught  his  children  that  which  will  be  useful  to  them  through 
life.  As  in  private  life,  so  it  is  in  public  affairs.  Statesmen  have  the 
same  passions  as  other  men,  and  it  is  only  by  resisting  these  passions  that 
they  can  save  the  State  .... 

I  ask  your  pardon  for  speaking  so  warmly,  but  it  is  impossible  to 
treat  a  graver  or  more  interesting  subject.  I  repeat  that  you  are  running 
toward  the  double  rock,  either  of  failing  in  your  engagements,  or  of  ren- 
dering inevitable  the  imposition  of  various  taxes  which  may  give  rise  to 
deplorable  divisions.  I  abjure  you  to  reflect  most  seriously  on  this  state 
of  affairs.  You  are  on  the  brink  of  a  financial  gulf  if  you  persist  in  the 
present  course.  I  ask  pardon  for  distressing  you,  but  it  is  my  duty  to  tell 
you  the  truth,  and  I  tell  it,  whatever  the  result  may  be. 


VICTOR  MARIE  HUGO  (J 802-1 885) 

POET,  DRAMATIST,  NOVELIST,  AND  ORATOR 


E RANGE  has  produced,  among  her  many  brilliant  orators,  but 
one  Victor  Hugo,  a  man  "  everything  by  turns  '^  and  always 
great.  As  a  novelist,  many  look  upon  him  as  the  greatest  of 
the  century,  and  regard  his  ^'Les  Miserables"  as  a  work  peerless  of  its 
kind.  As  poet,  as  dramatist,  he  stood  also  in  the  first  rank.  And  as 
an  orator,  no  Frenchman  has  surpassed  him  but  Mirabeau.  He  was 
an  orator  in  grain  ;  his  prose  works  read  like  animated  speeches.  He 
was  as  fearless  as  he  was  able.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  attack  Louis 
Napoleon  with  trenchant  bitterness  during  his  climb  to  power,  closing 
one  of  his  attacks  with  the  stinging  words  :  ^'  What !  after  Augustus 
must  we  have  Augustulus  ?  Because  we  had  a  Napoleon  the  Great 
must  we  now  have  Napoleon  the  Little  ?  " 

NAPOLEON  THE  LITTLE 

[When  Louis  Napoleon  seized  the  throne  Victor  Hugo  went  into  exile.  It  was 
impossible  for  him  to  keep  still  with  this  small  usurper  on  the  throne  of  his  great 
uncle,  and  he  sought  a  refuge  where  he  could  speak  his  mind  freely.  How  freely  he 
spoke  may  be  seen  from  the  oration  we  append.  He  had  the  art  of  making  vivid  and 
telling  sentences,  and  of  such  this  outburst  of  patriotic  passion  is  largely  made  up.] 

I  have  entered  the  lists  with  the  actual  ruler  of  Europe,  for  it  is  well 
for  the  world  that  I  should  exhibit  the  picture.  lyouis  Bonaparte  is  the 
intoxication  of  triumph.  He  is  the  incarnation  of  merry  yet  savage  des- 
potism. He  is  the  mad  plentitude  of  power  seeking  for  limits,  but  finding 
them  not,  neither  in  men  nor  facts.  Louis  Bonaparte  holds  France—; 
Urbem  Romam  habet ;  and  he  who  holds  France  holds  the  world.  He 
master  of  the  votes,  master  of  consciences,  master  of  the  people;  he 
names  his  successor,  does  away  with  eternity,  and  places  the  future  in  a 
sealed  envelope.  His  Senate,  his  Legislative  Body,  with  lowered  hea 
614 


f 


VICTOR  MARIE  HUGO  615 

creep  behind  him  and  lick  his  heels.  He  takes  up  or  drops  the  bishops 
and  cardinals  ;  he  tramples  upon  justice  which  curses  him,  and  upon 
judges  who  worship  him.  Thirty  eager  newspaper  correspondents  inform 
the  world  that  he  has  frowned,  and  every  electric  wire  quivers  if  he  raises 
his  little  finger.  Around  him  is  heard  the  clanking  of  the  sabre  and  the 
roll  of  the  drum.  He  is  seated  in  the  shadow  of  eagles,  begirt  by  ram- 
parts and  bayonets.  Free  people  tremble  and  conceal  their  liberty  lest 
he  should  rob  them  of  it.  The  great  American  Republic  even  hesitates 
before  him,  and  dares  not  withdraw  her  ambassador.  Kings  look  at  him 
with  a  smile  from  the  midst  of  their  armies,  though  their  hearts  be  full  of 
dread.     Where  will  he  begin  ?     Belgium,  Switzerland,  or  Piedmont  ? 

Europe  awaits  his  invasion.  He  is  able  to  do  as  he  wishes,  and  he 
dreams  of  impossibilities.  Well,  this  master,  this  triumphant  conqueror, 
this  vanquisher,  this  dictator,  this  emperor,  this  all-powerful  man,  one 
lonely  man,  robbed  and  ruined,  dares  to  rise  up  and  attack.  Louis  Napo- 
leon has  ten  thousand  cannons  and  five  hundred  thousand  soldiers ;  I 
have  but  a  pen  and  a  bottle  of  ink,  I  am  a  mere  nothing,  a  grain  of  dust, 
a  shadow,  an  exile  without  a  home,  a  vagrant  without  even  a  passport ; 
but  I  have  at  my  side  two  mighty  auxiliaries, — God,  who  is  invincible, 
and  Truth,  which  is  immortal. 

Certainly,  Providence  might  have  chosen  a  more  illustrious  champion 
for  this  duel  to  the  death  ;  some  stronger  athlete — but  what  matters  the 
man  when  it  is  the  cause  that  fights  ?  However  it  may  be,  it  is  good  for 
the  world  to  gaze  upon  this  spectacle.  For  what  is  it  but  intelligence 
striking  against  brute  force  ?  I  have  but  one  stone  for  my  sling  ;  but  it 
ij^  good  one,  for  its  name  is  Justice  ! 

I  am  attacking  Louis  Bonaparte  when  he  is  at  the  height  and  zenith 
of  his  power,  at  the  hour  when  all  bend  before  him.  All  the  better  ;  this 
is  what  suits  me  best. 

Yes,  I  attack  Louis  Bonaparte ;  I  attack  him  openly,  before  all  the 
world.  I  attack  him  before  God  and  man.  I  attack  him  boldly  and 
recklessly  for  love  of  the  people  and  for  love  of  France.  He  is  going  to 
be  an  emperor.  Let  him  be  one  ;  but  let  him  remember  that,  though  you 
may  secure  an  empire,  you  cannot  secure  an  easy  conscience  ! 

This  is  the  man  by  whom  France  is  governed  !  Governed,  do  I  say  ? 
— possessed  in  supreme  and  sovereign  sway  !  And  every  day,  and  every 
morning,  by  his  decrees,  by  his  messages,  by  all  the  incredible  drivel 
which  he  parades  in  the  Moniteur,  this  emigrant,  who  knows  not  France, 
teaches  France  her  lesson  ;  and  this  ruffian  tells  France  he  has  saved  her  ! 
And  from  whom?  From  herself!  Before  him.  Providence  committed 
only  follies ;  God  was  waiting  for  him  to  reduce  everything  to  order  ;  at 


^.^  VICTOR  MARIE  HUGO 

bib 

last  he  has  come  !  For  thirty-six  years  there  had  been  in  France  all  sorts 
of  pernicious  things, — the  tribune,  a  vociferous  thing ;  the  press,  an 
obstreperous  thing ;  thought,  an  insolent  thing ;  and  liberty,  the  most 
crying  abuse  of  all.  But  he  came,  and  for  the  tribune  he  has  substituted 
the  Senate ;  for  the  press,  the  censorship  ;  for  thought,  imbecility ;  and 
for  liberty,  the  sabre  ;  and  by  the  sabre  and  the  Senate,  by  imbecility  and 
censorship,  France  is  saved. 

Saved,  bravo!  And  from  whom,  I  repeat?  From  herself.  For 
what  has  this  France  of  ours,  if  you  please  ?  A  herd  of  marauders  and 
thieves  ;  of  anarchists,  assassins,  and  demagogues.  She  had  to  be  mana- 
cled, had  this  mad  woman,  France  ;  and  it  is  Monsieur  Bonaparte  I,ouis 
who  puts  the  handcuffs  on  her.  Now  she  is  in  a  dungeon,  on  a^diet  of 
bread  and  water,  punished,  humiliated,  garroted,  safely  cared  for.(^  Be  not 
disturbed,  Monsieur  Bonaparte,  a  policeman  stationed  at  the  Elysee  is 
answerable  for  her  in  Europe.  He  makes  it  his  business  to  be  so  ;  this 
wretched  France  is  in  the  sta'ait-jacket,  and  if  she  stirs — Ah,  what  is  this 
spectacle  before  our  eyes  ?  j  Is  it  a  dream  ?  Is  it  a  nightmare  ?  On  one 
side  a  nation,  the  first  of  nations,  and  on  the  other,  a  man,  the  last  of 
men  ;  and  this  is  what  this  man  does  to  this  nation.  What !  he  tramples 
her  under  his  feet,  he  laughs  in  her  face,  he  mocks  and  taunts  her,  he 
disowns,  insults,  and ; flouts  her  !  What!  he  says,  *' I  alone  am  worthy 
of  consideration!  "  What!  in  this  land  of  France,  where  none  would 
dare  to  slap  the  face  of  his  fellow,  this  man  can  slap  the  face  of  the 
nation  ?  Oh,  the  abominable  shame  of  it  all  !  Every  time  that  Monsieur 
Bonaparte  spits,  every  face  must  be  wiped  !  And  this  can  last !  and  you 
tell  me  it  will  last !  No  !  No  !  by  every  drop  in  every  vein,  no  !  It 
shall  not  last  !  Ah,  if  this  did  last,  it  would  be  in  very  truth  because 
there  would  no  longer  be  a  God  in  heaven,  nor  a  France  on  earth  ! 

THE  HEROISM  OF  VOLTAIRE 
[On  the  centennial  anniversary  of  Voltaire's  death,  May  30,  1878,  Hugo  made 
at  Paris  the  following  eloquent  address.] 

One  hundred  years  ago  to-day  a  man  died  !  He  died  immortal,  laden 
with  years,  with  labors,  and  with  the  most  illustrious  and  formidable  of 
responsibilities — the  responsibility  of  the  human  conscience  informed 
and  corrected.  He  departed  amid  the  curses  of  the  past  and  the  blessing 
of  the  future — and  these  are  the  two  superb  forms  of  glory  ! — dying  amic 
the  acclamations  of  his  comtemporaries  and  of  posterity,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  on  the  other  with  the  hootings  and  hatreds  bestowed  by  the  implac- 
able past  on  those  who  combat  it.  He  was  more  than  a  man — he  was  an 
epoch  !     He  had  done  his  work  ;    he  had  fulfilled  his  mission  evidently 


VICTOR  MARIE  HUGO  G17 

,  chosen  for  him  by  the  Supreme  Will,  which  manifests  itself  as  visibly  in 
the  laws  of  destiny  as  in  the  laws  of  nature.  The  eighty-four  years  he 
had  lived  bridge  over  the  interval  between  the  apogee  of  the  Monarchy 
and  the  dawn  of  the  Revolution.  At  his  birth,  Louis  XIV.  still  reigned  ; 
at  his  death  Louis  XVI.  had  already  mounted  the  throne;  so  that  his 
cradle  saw  the  last  rays  of  the  great  throne  and  his  cofl&n  the  first  beams 

from  the  great  abyss 

The  court  was  full  of  festivities  ;  Versailles  was  radiant ;  Paris  was 
ignorant ;  and  meanwhile,  through  religious  ferocity,  judges  killed  an  old 
man  on  the  wheel  and  tore  out  a  child's  tongue  for  a  song.  Confronted 
by  this  frivolous  and  dismal  society,  Voltaire  alone,  sensible  of  all  the 
forces  marshaled  against  him — court,  nobility,  finance  ;  that  unconscious 
power,  the  blind  multitude  ;  that  terrible  magistracy,  so  oppressive  for  the 
subject,  so  docile  for  the  master,  crushing  and  flattering,  kneeling  on  the 
people  before  the  king  ;  that  clergy,  a  sinister  medley  of  hypocrisy  and 
fanaticism — Voltaire  alone  declared  war  against  this  coalition  of  all  social 
iniquities — against  that  great  and  formidable  world.  He  accepted  battle 
with  it.  What  was  his  weapon  ?  That  which  hath  the  lightness  of  the 
wind  and  the  force  of  a  thunderbolt — a  pen.  With  that  weapon  Voltaire 
fought,  and  with  that  he  conquered  !  Let  us  salute  that  memory !  He 
conquered  !  He  waged  a  splendid  warfare — the  war  of  one  alone  against 
all  ;  the  grand  war  of  mind  against  matter,  of  reason  against  prejudice  ; 
a  war  for  the  just  against  the  unjust,  for  the  oppressed  against  the  oppressor, 
the  war  of  goodness,  the  war  of  kindness  !  He  had  the  tenderness  of  a 
woman  and  the  anger  of  a  hero.  His  was  a  great  mind  and  an  immense 
heart.  He  conquered  the  old  code,  the  ancient  dogma  !  He  conquered 
the  feudal  lord,  the  Gothic  judge,  the  Roman  priest.  He  bestowed  on 
the  populace  the  dignity  of  the  people  !  He  taught,  pacified,  civilized  ! 
He  fought  for  the  Sirven  and  Montbailly  as  for  Galas  and  Labarre. 
Regardless  of  menaces,  insults,  persecutions,  calumny,  exile,  he  was  inde- 
fatigable and  imovable.  He  overcame  violence  by  a  smile,  despotism  by 
sarcasm,  infallibility  by  irony,  obstinacy  by  perseverance,  ignorance  by 
truth  ! 


LEON  MICHEL  GAMBETTA  (I838-t882) 

THE  ADVOCATE  OF  FRENCH  DEMOCRACY 


mN  October,  1871,  Leon  Gambetta,  one  of  the  makers  of  the  new 
French  Republic,  made  a  most  sensational  escape  from  Paris, 
then  closely  invested  by  the  German  army.  He  passed  not 
through,  but  over  the  lines,  sailing  through  the  air  in  a  balloon,  and 
landing  far  beyond  the  reach  of  the  foes  of  France.  At  his  call,  all 
southern  France  rose  in  arms,  and  for  five  months  he  was  the  Dictator 
of  his  country.  Army  after  army  rose  from  farm  and  city  and  fought 
the  foes  of  France,  and  even  after  Paris  had  fallen,  he  demanded  that 
the  war  should  go  on  to  the  bitter  end.  His  colleagues  failing  to  sup-j 
port  him,  he  resigned  his  leadersdip  and  retired  into  Spain. 

Before  the  war  with  Germany,  Gambetta  had  been  a  member  of 
the  Paris  bar,  and  a  deputy  of  advanced  liberal  opinions,  representing 
the  ''  Irreconcilables  "  of  Marseilles  and  Belleville.     In  the  new  Par-i 
liament  he  became  the  chief  of  the  advanced  Republicans,  and  latei 
came  into  determined  conflict  with  those  who  sought  to  restore  th( 
monarchy.     The  contest  between  him  and  Marshal  MacMahon  led  toj 
his  being  imprisoned  and  fined  for  libel,  but  it  ended  in  the  resigna- 
tion of  MacMahon  and  the  triumph  of  Gambetta.     He  subsequently] 
became  premier,  but  resigned  in  1882,  and  soon  after  died  from  an] 
accidental  wound  in  the  hand  from  a  revolver. 

THE  REGENERATION  OF  FRANCE 

[Gambetta  was  an  orator  of  fine  powers,  and  the  "ablest  French  Republican  of 
the  nineteenth  century."  "Keeping  alive  his  faith  in  France  and  its  powers  of  recupera- 
tion, after  the  terrible  losses  of  the  war  with  Germany,  he  sought  to  arouse  a  like 
feeling  in  the  people,  calling  on  the  peasantry  and  the  educated  alike  to  arouse  for  the 
regeneration  of  their  beloved  native  land.  We  offer  a  translation  of  one  of  his  appeals 
for  this  purpose.] 
618 


i 


LEON  MICHEL  GAMBETTA  619 

The  peasantry  is  intellectually  several  centuries  behind  the  enlightened 
and  educated  classes  of  the  country.  Yes,  the  distance  is  immense  between 
them  and  us,  who  have  received  a  classical  or  scientific  education — even 
the  imperfect  one  of  our  day.  We  have  learned  to  read  our  history,  to 
speak  our  language,  while  (a  cruel  thing  to  say)  so  many  of  our  country- 
men can  only  babble  !  Ah  !  that  peasant,  bound  to  the  tillage  of  the  soil, 
who  bravely  carries  the  burden  of  his  day,  with  no  other  consolation  than 
that  of  leaving  to  his  children  the  paternal  fields,  perhaps  increased  an 
acre  in  extent  !  All  his  passions,  joys,  fears,  are  concentrated  on  the  fate 
of  his  patrimony.  Of  the  external  world,  of  the  society  in  which  he  lives, 
he  apprehends  but  legends  and  rumors  ;  he  is  the  prey  of  the  cunning  and 
the  fraudulent.  He  strikes,  without  knowing  it,  the  bosom  of  the  Revo- 
lution, his  benefactress ;  he  gives  loyally  his  taxes  and  his  blood  to  a 
society  for  which  he  feels  fear  as  much  as  respect.  But  there  his  role 
ends,  and  if  you  speak  to  him  of  principles,  he  knows  nothing  of  them. 

It  is  to  the  peasantry,  then,  that  we  must  address  ourselves.  They 
are  the  ones  we  must  raise  and  instruct.  The  epithets  the  parties  have 
bandied  of  "  rurality  "  and  "  rural  chamber  "  must  not  be  the  cause  of 
injustice.  It  is  to  be  wished  that  there  were  a  "  rural  chamber,"  in  the 
profound  and  true  sense  of  the  term,  for  it  is  not  with  hobble-de-hoys  a 
"rural  chamber"  can  be  made,  but  with  enlightened  and  free  peasants  able 
to  represent  themselves.  And  instead  of  being  the  cause  of  raillery,  this 
reproach  of  a  "  rural  chamber  ' '  would  be  a  tribute  rendered  to  the 
progress  of  the  civilization  of  the  masses.  This  new  social  force  could  be 
utilized  for  the  general  welfare.  Unfortunately,  we  have  not  yet  reached 
that  point,  and  this  progress  will  be  denied  us  as  long  as  the  French 
democracy  fail  to  demonstrate  that  if  we  would  remake  our  country,  if 
we  would  return  her  to  her  grandeur,  her  power,  and  her  genius,  it  is  the 
vital  interest  of  her  superior  classes  to  elevate,  to  emancipate  this  people 
of  workers,  who  hold  in  reserve  a  force  still  virgin  and  able  to  develop 
inexhaustible  treasures  of  activity  and  aptitude.  We  must  learn  and  then 
teach  the  peasant  what  he  owes  to  society  and  what  he  has  the  right  to 
ask  of  her. 

On  the  day  when  it  will  be  well  understood  that  we  have  no  grander 
or  more  pressing  work  ;  that  we  should  put  aside  and  postpone  all  other 
reforms;  that  we  have  but  one  task,  the  instruction  of  the  people,  the 
diffusion  of  education,  the  encouragement  of  science, — on  that  day  a  great 
step  will  have  been  taken  in  your  regeneration.  But  our  action  needs  to 
be  a  double  one,  that  it  may  bear  upon  the  body  as  well  as  the  mind.  To 
be  exact,  each  man  should  be  intelligent,  trained  not  only  to  think,  read, 
reason,  but  able   also  to  act,  to  fight.     Everywhere  beside  the  teacher  w^ 


620  LEON  MICHEL   GAMBETTA 

should  place  the  gymnast  and  the  soldier,  to  the  end  that  our  children, 
our  soldiers,  our  fellow-citizens,  should  be  able  to  hold  a  sword,  to  carry 
a  gun  on  a  long  march,  to  sleep  under  the  canopy  of  the  stars,  to  support 
valiantly  all  the  hardships  demanded  of  a  patriot.  We  must  push  to  the 
front  these  two  educations.  Otherwise  you  make  a  success  of  letters,  but 
do  not  create  a  bulwark  of  patriots. 

Yes,  gentlemen,  if  they  have  outclassed  us,  if  you  had  to  submit  to 
the  supreme  agony  of  seeing  the  France  of  Kleber  and  of  Hoche  lose  her 
two  most  patriotic  provinces,  those  best .  embodying  at  once  the  military, 
commercial,  industrial  and  democratic  spirit,  we  can  blame  only  our  infe- 
rior physical  and  moral  condition.  To-day,  the  interests  of  our  country 
command  us  to  speak  no  imprudent  words,  to  close  our  lips,  to  sink  to 
the  bottom  of  our  hearts  our  resentments,  to  take  up  the  grand  work  of 
national  regeneration,  to  devote  to  it  all  the  time  necessary,  that  it  may  be 
a  lasting  work.  If  it  need  ten  years,  if  it  need  twenty  years,  then  we  must 
devote  to  it  ten  or  twenty  years.  But  we  must  commence  at  once,  that 
each  year  may  see  the  advancing  life  of  a  new  generation,  strong,  intelli- 
gent, as  much  in  love  with  science  as  with  the  Fatherland,  having  in  their 
hearts  the  double  sentiment  that  he  serves  his  country  well  only  when  he 
serves  it  with  his  reason  and  his  arm.  .^ 

We  have  been  educated  in  a  rough  school.  We  must  therefore  cure 
ourselves  of  the  vanity  which  has  caused  us  so  many  disasters.  We  must 
also  realize  conscientiously  where  our  responsibility  exists,  and  seeing  the 
remedy,  sacrifice  all  to  the  object  to  be  attained — to  remake  and  reconsti- 
tute France  !  For  that,  nothing  should  be  accounted  too  good,  and  we 
shall  ask  nothing  before  this  ;  the  first  demand  must  be  for  an  education 
as  complete  from  base  to  summit  as  is  known  to  human  intelligence. 
Naturally,  merit  must  be  recognized,  aptitude  awakened  and  approved, 
and  honest  and  impartial  judges  freely  chosen  by  their  fellow-citizens, 
deciding  publicly  in  such  a  way  that  merit  alone  will  open  the  door. 
Reject  as  authors  of  mischief  those  who  have  put  words  in  the  place  of 
action  ;  all  those  who  have  put  favoritism  in  the  place  of  merit ;  all  those 
who  made  the  profession  of  arms  not  a  means  for  the  protection  of  France, 
but  a  means  of  serving  the  caprices  of  a  master,  and  sometimes  of  becom- 
ing the  accomplices  of  his  crimes. 


BOOK  IX^ 

Orators  of  Southern  and  Central  Europe 

THE  countries  of  Europe  aside  from  Great 
Britain  and  France — with  which  we  have  so  far 
chiefly  dealt — have  had  their  orators;  men 
equipped  by  nature  and  education  to  control  the 
opinions  and  move  the  feelings  of  mankind  ;  but, 
seemingly,  in  no  great  numbers.  Certainly  the  pau- 
city of  names  of  distinguished  public  speakers  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  oratory  of  a  high  order  has  not 
flourished  in  those  countries.  Greece  in  modern 
times  has  produced  no  rival  of  Demosthenes,  nor 
Italy  of  Cicero,  nor  even  any  orators  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  those  of  minor  fame  in  classic  times. 
The  same  is  the  case  with  the  remainder  of  Europe. 
Take  Germany,  for  instance,  that  land  of  thinkers  and 
philosophers — where  are  its  Burkes  and  Gladstones, 
its  Mirabeaus  and  Hugos,  its  Websters  and  Clays? 
The  fact  would  seem  to  be  that  the  long  division  of 
Germany  into  minor  kingdoms  has  checked  the  growth 
of  forensic  or  political  oratory  in  that  country,  there 
being  little  opportunity  afforded  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  art  of  eloquence.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
Italy.  Moreover,  despotic  institutions  have  certainly 
had  a  limiting  effect  upon  oratory  wherever  they  have 
existed,  and  the  fine  oratory  of  the  world  is  limited 
to  the  republics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  the  revolution- 
ary periods  of  England,  France  and  the  United  States, 
and  the  free  institutions  of  these  countries  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  As  a  result,  modern  Europe, 
outside  of  France,  has  not  been  rich  in  oratory,  and 
we  are  not  able  to  present  an  extended  or  very 
notable  list. 

621 


LOUIS  KOSSUTH  (1 802-1 894) 

THE  ELOQUENT  ADVOCATE  OF  HUNGARY 


NEVER  was  there  a  more  vigorous  effort  made  for  national  inde- 
pendence than  that  of  Hungary,  under  the  leadership  of  her 

'  great  patriot,  Louis  Kossuth,  in  the  revolutionary  years  of 
1848  and  1849.  The  devoted  struggle  for  liberty  went  down  in  blood 
and  horror  when  Russia  came  to  the  aid  of  beaten  Austria.  The 
hand  of  the  allied  autocrats  fell  with  cruel  weight  on  the  crushed 
nation,  and  Hungary  seemed  fallen  never  to  rise  again.  Yet  the 
Hungarians  still  undauntedly  wrought  for  their  ancient  liberty,  and 
the  vanquished  patriots  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  within  twenty 
years  their  beloved  country  virtually  independent,  the  equal  associate 
of  Austria  in  the  combined  kingdom  of  Austria-Hungary. 

Kossuth,  though  an  exile  from  his  native  land,  wrought  earnestly 
to  win  for  it  the  sympathy  of  foreign  countries,  and  aided  to  his 
utmost  in  keeping  up  its  unyielding  demand  for  home  rule.  Taking 
refuge  in  Turkey,  he  was  released  from  prison  there  in  1851  by  the 
united  effort  of  England  and  the  United  States,  and  afterward  tra- 
versed those  countries,  making  speeches  in  the  English  language. 

THE  HAVEN  OF  THE  OPPRESSED 

[Never  has  a  visit  by  a  refugee  from  the  tyranny  of  Europe  excited  so  much 
sympathy  in  the  United  States  as  when  Louis  Kossuth  visited  its  shores  and  eloquently 
pictured  the  wrongs  and  sufferings  of  his  native  land.  Everywhere  he  was  received 
with  enthusiastic  popular  demonstrations  and  excited  the  warmest  sentiment.  The 
following  selection  is  from  his  address  at  a  Congressional  banquet  in  his  honor  atj 
Washington  on  January  ii,  1852.] 

Sir,  as  once  Cyneas,  the  Epirote,  stood  among  the  Senators  of  Rome,j 
who,  with  an  earnest  word  of  self-conscious  majesty,  controlled  the  condi- 
tion of  the  world  and  arrested  mighty  kings  in  their  ambitious  marching,  | 
622 


LOUIS   KOSSUTH  623 

thus,  full  of  admiration  and  of  reverence,  I  stand  before  you,  legislators 
of  the  new  capitol — that  glorious  hall  of  your  people's  collective  majesty. 
The  capitol  of  old  yet  stands,  but  the  spirit  has  departed  from  it  and  come 
over  to  yours,  purified  by  the  air  of  liberty.  The  old  stands  a  mournful 
monument  of  the  fragility  of  human  things ;  yours  as  a  sanctuary  of 
eternal  rights.  The  old  beamed  with  the  red  lustre  of  conquest,  now 
darkened  by  oppression's  gloomy  night ;  yours  beams  with  freedom's 
bright  ray.  The  old  absorbed  the  world  by  its  own  centralized  glory  ; 
yours  protects  your  own  nation  against  absorption,  even  by  itself.  The 
old  was  awful  with  irresistible  power ;  yours  is  glorious  with  having 
restricted  it.  At  the  view  of  the  old,  nations  trembled;  at  the  view  of 
yours,  humanity  hopes.  To  the  old,  misfortune  was  only  introduced  with 
fettered  hands  to  kneel  at  the  triumphant  conqueror's  heels  ;  to  yours,  the 
triumph  of  introduction  is  granted  to  unfortunate  exiles,  invited  to  the 
honor  of  a  seat,  and  where  kings  and  Caesars  will  never  be  hailed  for  their 
powers,  might  and  wealth,  there  the  persecuted  chief  of  a  down-trodden 
nation  is  welcomed  as  your  great  Republic's  guest,  precisely  because  he  is 
persecuted,  helpless  and  poor.  In  the  old,  the  terrible  vce  victis  was  the 
rule  ;  in  yours,  protection  to  the  oppressed,  malediction  to  ambitious 
oppressors,  and  consolation  to  the  vanquished  in  a  just  cause.  And  while 
out  of  the  old  a  conquered  world  was  ruled,  you  in  yours  provide  for  the 
common  confederative  interests  of  a  territory  larger  than  the  conquered 
world  of  the  old.  There  sat  men  boasting  their  will  to  be  sovereign  of  the 
world  ;  here  sit  men  whose  glory  is  to  acknowledge  the  laws  of  nature 
and  of  nature's  God,  and  to  do  what  their  sovereign,  the  people,  wills. 

Sir,  there  is  history  in  these  parallels.  History  of  past  ages  and 
history  of  future  centuries  may  be  often  recorded  in  a  few  words.  The 
small  particulars  to  which  the  passions  of  living  men  cling  with  fervent 
zeal — as  if  the  fragile  figure  of  men  could  arrest  the  rotation  of  destiny's 
wheel, — these  particulars  die  away.  It  is  the  issue  which  makes  history, 
and  that  issue  is  always  logical.  There  is  a  necessity  of  consequences 
wherever  the  necessity  of  position  exists.  Principles  are  the  Alpha  ;  they 
must  finish  with  the  Omega  ;  and  they  will.  Thus  history  may  be  told 
often  in  a  few  words.  Before  yet  the  heroic  struggle  of  Greece  first 
engaged  your  country's  sympathy  for  the  fate  of  freedom  in  Europe,  then  so 
far  distant,  and  now  so  near,  Chateaubriand  happened  to  be  in  Athens,  and 
he  heard  from  a  minaret  raised  upon  the  Propylaean  ruins  a  Turkish  priest 
in  Arabic  language  announcing  the  lapse  of  hours  to  the  Christians  of 
Minerva's  town.  What  immense  history  in  the  small  fact  of  a  Turkish 
Imaum  crying  out :  "  Pray,  man,  the  hour  is  running  fast,  and  the  judg- 
ment draws  near. ' ' 


624  LOUIS   KOSSUTH 

Sir,  there  is  equally  a  history  of  future  ages  written  in  the  honor 
bestowed  by  you  to  my  humble  self.  The  first  governor  of  independent 
Hungary,  driven  from  his  native  land  by  Russian  violence ;  an  exile  on 
Turkish  soil  protected  by  a  Mohammedan  Sultan  against  the  blood-thirst 
of  Christian  tyrants ;  cast  back  a  prisoner  to  far  Asia  by  diplomacy  ; 
rescued  from  his  Asiatic  prison  by  America ;  crossing  the  Atlantic, 
charged  with  the  hopes  of  Europe's  oppressed  nations;  pleading,  a  poor 
exile,  before  the  people  of  this  great  Republic,  his  down-trodden  country's 
wrongs,  and  its  intimate  connection  with  the  fate  of  the  European  conti- 
nent*; and  with  the  boldness  of  a  just  cause  claiming  the  principles  of  the 
Christian  religion  to  be  raised  to  a  law  of  nations  ; — and  to  see,  not  only 
the  boldness  of  the  poor  exile  forgiven,  but  to  see  him  consoled  by  the 
sympathy  of  millions,  encouraged  by  individuals,  meetings,  cities  and 
States,  supported  by  operative  aid  and  greeted  by  Congress  and  by  the 
Government  as  the  nation's  guest,  honored  out  of  generosity  with  that 
honor  which  only  one  man  before  him  received — and  that  man  received 
it  out  of  gratitude, — with  honors  such  as  no  potentate  can  ever  receive, 
and  this  banquet  here,  and  the  toast  which  I  have  to  thank  you  for — oh, 
indeed,  sir,  there  is  a  history  of  future  ages  in  all  these  facts 

I  dare  confidently  affirm,  that  in  your  great  country  there  exists  not 
a  single  man  through  whose  brains  has  ever  passed  the  thought  that  he 
would  wish  to  raise  the  seat  of  his  ambition  upon  the  ruins  of  your  coun- 
try's liberty.  If  he  could,  such  a  wish  is  impossible  in  the  United  States. 
Institutions  react  upon  the  character  of  nations.  He  who  sows  the  wind 
will  reap  the  storm.  History  is  the  revelation  of  Providence.  The 
Almighty  rules  by  eternal  laws,  not  only  the  material  but  the  moral 
world  ;  and  every  law  is  a  principle,  and  every  principle  is  a  law.  Men, 
as  well  as  nations,  are  endowed  with  free  will  to  choose  a  principle  ;  but 
that  once  chosen,  the  consequences  must  be  abided.  With  self-go verment 
is  freedom,  and  with  freedom  is  justice  and  patriotism.  With  centraliza- 
tion is  ambition,  and  with  ambition  dwells  despotism.  Happy  your  great 
country,  sir,  for  being  so  warmly  addicted  to  that  great  principle  of  self- 
government.  Upon  this  foundation  your  fathers  raised  a  home  to  freedom 
more  glorious  than  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Upon  this  foundation  you 
have  developed  it  to  a  living  wonder  of  the  world.  Happy  your  great 
country,  sir,  that  it  was  selected  by  the  blessing  of  the  I^ord  to  prove  the 
glorious  practicability  of  a  federated  Union  of  many  sovereign  States,  all 
conserving  their  State  rights  and  their  self-government,  and  yet  united  in 
one.  Every  star  beaming  with  its  own  lustre;  but  all  together  one  con- 
stellation on  mankind's  canopy ! 


I 


GIUSEPPE  MAZZINI  (J 808-1 872) 

THE  PIONEER  OF  UNITED  ITALY 


i 


|M0NG  those  to  whose  labors  was  due  the  revolutionary  move- 
ment that  made  Italy  a  united  nation,  Mazzini  played  a  lead- 
ing part.  He  joined  to  some  extent  in  military  movements, 
[IS  when  he,  as  master  spirit  of  the  Republicans,  defended  Rome 
iigainst  the  French  in  1849,  and  took  part  in  Garibaldi's  victorious 
invasion  of  Sicily  in  1860.  But  his  work  was  done  more  largely 
with  the  pen  than  with  the  sword.  In  exile  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  life,  he  organized  the  ^'  Young  Italy  '*  association  in  1831, 
and  for  many  years  unceasingly  supported  the  cause  by  his  writings. 
Mazzini  has  been  characterized  as  "  One  of  those  rare  men,  numerable, 
unfortunately,  but  as  units  in  this  world,  who  are  worthy  to  be  called 
martyr-souls."  For  fifty  years  he  worked  for  the  great  object  of  his 
life,  and  lived  to  see  Italy  a  united  kingdom,  laying  down  his  life 
only  after  Rome  had  become  the  capital  of  United  Italy. 

THE  MARTYRS  OF  COSENZA 

[Mazzini's  power  of  oratory  and  loftiness  of  spirit  are  best  shown  in  his 
oration  at  Milan  on  July  25,  1848,  to  the  young  men  of  Italy,  its  inspiring  subject  being 
the  •*  Martyrs  of  Cosenza,"  fellow-patriots  who  were  deprived  of  their  lives  by  the 
oppressors  of  their  country.] 

When  I  was  commissioned  by  you,  young  men,  to  proflfer  in  this 
temple  a  few  words  sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  brothers  Bandiera  and 
their  fellow- martyrs  at  Cosenza,  I  thought  that  some  of  those  who  heard 
me  might  exclaim  with  noble  indignation:  '•' Wherefore  lament  over  the 
dead  ?  The  martyrs  of  liberty  are  only  worthily  honored  by  winning  the 
battle  they  have  begun  ;  Cosenza,  the  land  where  they  fell,  is  enslaved; 
Venice,  the  city  of  their  birth,  is  begirt  by  foreign  foes.  Let  us  emancipate 
them,  and  until  that  moment  let  no  words  pass  our  lips  save  words  of  war.'* 
40  625 


626  GIUSEPPE    MAZZINI 

But  another  thought  arose  :  Why  have  we  not  conquered  ?  Why 
is  it  that,  while  we  are  fighting  for  independence  in  the  north  of  Italy, 
liberty  is  perishing  in  the  South  ?  Why  is  it  that  a  war  which  should 
have  sprung  to  the  Alps  with  the  bound  of  a  lion,  has  dragged  itself  along 
for  four  months,  with  the  slow  uncertain  motion  of  the  scorpion  sur- 
rounded by  a  circle  of  fire  ?  How  has  the  rapid  and  powerful*  intuition  of 
a  people  newly  arisen  to  life  been  converted  into  the  weary  helpless  effort 
of  the  sick  man  turning  from  side  to  side  ?  Ah  !  had  we  all  arisen  in  the 
sanctity  of  the  idea  for  which  our  martyrs  died  ;  had  the  holy  standard  of 
their  faith  preceded  our  youth  to  battle  :  had  we  reached  that  unity  of  life 
which  was  in  them  so  powerful,  and  made  of  our  every  action  a  thought, 
and  of  our  every  thought  an  action  ;  had  we  devoutly  gathered  up  their 
last  words  in  our  hearts,  and  learned  from  them  that  Liberty  and  Indepen- 
dence are  one,  that  God  and  the  People,  the  Fatherland  and  Humanity, 
are  the  two  inseparable  terms  of  the  device  of  every  people  striving  to 
become  a  nation  ;  that  Italy  can  have  no  true  life  till  she  be  One,  holy  in 
the  equality  and  love  of  all  her  children,  great  in  the  worship  of  eternal 
truth,  and  consecrated  to  a  lofty  mission,  a  moral  priesthood  among  the 
peoples  of  Europe, — we  should  now  have  had,  not  war,  but  victory  ; 
Cosenza  would  not  be  compelled  to  venerate  the  memory  of  her  martyrs 
in  secret,  nor  Venice  be  restrained  from  honoring  them  with  a  monument ; 
and  we,  gathered  here  together,  might  gladly  invoke  their  sacred  names, 
without  uncertainty  as  to  our  future  destiny,  or  a  cloud  of  sadness  on  our 
brows,  and  say  to  those  precursor  souls:  **  Rejoice!  for  your  spirit  is 
incarnate  in  your  brethren,  and  they  are  worthy  of  you." 

The  idea  which  they  worshipped,  young  men,  does  not  as  yet  shine 
forth  in  its  full  purity  and  integrity  upon  your  banner.  The  sublime 
program  which  they,  dying,  bequeathed  to  the  rising  Italian  generation,  isj 
yours  ;  but  mutilated,  broken  up  into  fragments  by  the  false  doctrines, 
which,  elsewhere  overthrown,  have  taken  refuge  among  us.  I  look 
around,  and  I  see  the  struggles  of  desperate  populations,  an  alternation  of 
generous  rage  and  unworthy  repose ;  of  shouts  for  freedom  and  of  for- 
mulae of  servitude,  throughout  all  parts  of  our  peninsula  ;  but  the  soul  of 
the  country,  where  is  it  ?  What  unity  is  there  in  this  unequal  and  mani- 
fold movement  ?  Where  is  the  Word  which  should  dominate  the  hundred 
diverse  and  opposing  counsels  which  mislead  or  seduce  the  multitude  ?  I 
hear  phrases  usurping  the  national  omnipotence — "The  Italy  of  the 
North — the  league  of  the  States — Federative  compacts  between  Princes," 
but  Italy,  where  is  it  ?  Where  is  the  common  country,  the  country  which 
the  Bandiera  hailed  as  thrice  Initiatrix  of  a  new  era  of  European  civiliza- 
tion ? 


GIUSEPPE    MAZZINI  627 

Intoxicated  with  our  first  victories,  improvident  for  the  future,  we 
forgot  the  idea  revealed  by  God  to  those  who  suffered  ;  and  God  has  pun- 
ished our  forgetfulness  by  deferring  our  triumph.  The  Italian  movement, 
my  countrymen,  is,  by  decree  of  Providence,  that  of  Europe.  We  arise 
to  give  a  pledge  of  moral  progress  to  the  European  world.  But  neither 
political  fictions,  nor  dynastic  aggrandizements,  nor  theories  of  expedi- 
ency, can  transform  or  renovate  the  life  of  the  peoples.  Humanity  lives 
and  moves  through  faith  ;  great  principles  are  the  guiding  stars  that  lead 
Europe  towards  the  future.  Let  us  turn  to  the  graves  of  our  martyrs,  and 
ask  inspiration  of  those  who  died  for  us  all,  and  we  shall  find  the  secret  of 
victory  in  the  adoration  of  a  faith.  The  angel  of  martyrdom  and  the  angel 
of  victory  are  brothers  ;  but  the  one  looks  up  to  heaven,  and  the  other 
looks  down  to  earth  ;  audit  is  when,  from  ^och  to  epoch,  their  glance 
meets  between  earth  and  heaven,  that  creation  is  embellished  with  a  new 
life,  and  a  people  arises  from  the  cradle  of  the  tomb, — evangelist  or 
prophet  .... 

Love,  young  men,  love  and  venerate  the  ideal.  The  ideal  is  the 
Word  of  God.  High  above  every  country,  high  above  humanity,  is  the 
country  of  the  spirit,  the  city  of  the  soul,  in  which  all  are  brethren  who 
believe  in  the  inviolability  of  thought  and  in  the  dignity  of  our  immortal 
soul ;  and  the  baptism  of  this  fraternity  is  martyrdom.  From  that  high 
sphere  spring  the  principles  which  alone  can  redeem  the  peoples.  Arise 
for  the  sake  of  these,  and  not  from  impatience  or  suffering  or  dread  of 
evil.  Anger,  pride,  ambition,  and  the  desire  of  material  prosperity,  are 
arms  common  alike  to  the  peoples  and  their  oppressors,  and  even  should 
you  conquer  with  these  to-day,  you  would  fall  again  to-morrow  ;  but  prin- 
ciples belong  to  the  peoples  alone,'  and  their  oppressors  can  find  no  arms 
to  oppose  them.  Adore  enthusiasm,  the  dreams  of  the  virgin  soul,  and 
the  visions  of  early  youth ,  for  they  are  a  perfume  of  paradise  which  the 
soul  retains  in  issuing  from  the  hands  of  its  Creator.  Respect  above  all 
things  your  conscience  ;  have  upon  your  lips  the  truth  implanted  by  God 
in  your  hearts,  and,  while  laboring  in  harmony,  even  with  those  who 
differ  with  you,  in  all  that  tends  to  the  emancipation  of  our  soil,  yet  ever 
bear  your  own  banner  erect  and  boldly  promulgate  your  own  faith. 

Such  words,  young  men,  would  the  martyrs  of  Cosenza  have  spoken, 
had  they  been  living  amongst  you ;  and  here,  where  it  may  be  that, 
invoked  by  our  love,  their  holy  spirits  hover  near  us,  I  call  upon  you  to 
gather  them  up  in  your  hearts  and  to  make  of  them  a  treasure  amid  the 
storms  that  yet  threaten  you  ;  storms  which,  with  the  names  of  our  mar- 
tyrs on  your  lips  and  their  faith  in  your  hearts,  you  will  overcome. 
God  be  with  you,  and  bless  Italy  ! 


COUNT  CAMILLO  DI  CAVOUR  (J8J0-J86t) 

THE  REGENERATOR  OF  ITALY 


mT  is  not  as  an  orator  that  Cavour  ranks  high,  but  as  a  statesman, 
an  able  and  energetic  controller  of  national  affairs.  Yet, 
though  not  looked  on  as  an  eloquent  speaker,  he  could,  on 
occasion,  deliver  himself  pointedly  and  effectively.  As  a  leader  in  the 
movement  for  the  unification  of  Italy,  Cavour  was  one  of  the  great 
statesmen  of  modern  times.  While  the  king  reigned,  the  minister 
ruled — a  dictator  in  position  and  the  power  of  bending  all  to  his  will. 
The  first  important  step  taken  by  Cavour  was  to  commit  Sardinia  to 
the  Crimean  war.  By  his  management  of  this  he  greatly  increased 
the  power  and  prestige  of  the  Sardinian  kingdom.  The  revolutionary 
work  of  Garibaldi  was  encouraged  by  him,  and  by  taking  part  in  it 
at  the  critical  moment,  he  brought  about  the  unity  of  Italy  and  the 
crowning  of  Victor  Emmanuel  as  the  king  of  the  whole  country. 
Then,  worn  out  by  the  strain,  he  died,  a  few  months  only  after  his 
life  work  was  completed. 

ROME  THE  CAPITAL  OF  ITALY 

[Cavour's  natural  inclination  would  have  been  to  make  his  native  Turin  the 
capital  of  united  Italy.  But  he  felt  that,  for  historic  and  sentimental  reasons,  Rome 
was  the  only  capital  to  be  considered.  This  conviction  he  clearly  conveyed  in  the 
fo -lowing  remarks.] 

Rome  should  be  the  capital  of  Italy.  There  can  be  no  solution  of  the 
Roman  question  without  the  acceptance  of  this  premise  by  Italy  and  by 
all  Europe.  If  any  one  could  conceive  of  a  united  Italy  with  any  degree 
of  stability,  and  without  Rome  for  its  capital,  I  would  declare  the  Roman 
question  difiScult,  if  not  impossible,  of  solution.  And  why  have  we  the 
right,  the  duty,  of  insisting  that  Rome  shall  be  united  to  Italy  ?  Because 
without  Rome  as  the  capital  of  Italy,  Italy  cannot  exist. 
628 


COUNT  CAMILLO  DI  CAVOUR  629 

This  truth  being  felt  instinctively  by  all  Italians,  being  asserted 
abroad  by  all  who  judge  Italian  affairs  impartially,  needs  no  demonstra- 
tion, but  is  upheld  by  the  judgment  of  the  nation. 

And  yet,  gentlemen,  this  truth  is  susceptible  to  a  very  simple  proof. 
Italy  has  still  much  to  do  before  it  will  rest  upon  a  stable  basis  ;  much  to 
do  in  solving  the  grave  problems  raised  by  her  unification  ;  much  to  do  in 
overcoming  all  the  obstacles  which  time-honored  traditions  oppose  to  this 
great  undertaking.  And  if  this  end  must  be  compassed,  it  is  essential 
that  there  be  no  cause  of  dissidence,  of  failure.  Until  the  question  of  the 
capital  of  Italy  is  determined,  there  will  be  endless  discords  among  the 
different  provinces. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  how  persons  of  good  faith,  cultured  and  tal- 
ented, are  now  suggesting,  some  on  historical,  some  on  artistic  grounds, 
and  also  for  many  other  reasons,  the  advisability  of  establishing  the  capital 
in  some  other  city  of  Italy.  Such  a  discussion  is  quite  comprehensible 
now,  but  if  Italy  already  had  her  capital  in  Rome  do  you  think  this  ques- 
tion would  be  even  possible  ?  Assuredly  not.  Even  those  who  are  now 
opposed  to  transferring  the  capital  to  Rome,  if  it  were  once  established 
there  would  not  dream  of  removing  it.  Therefore  it  is  only  by  proclaim- 
ing Rome  the  capital  of  Italy  that  we  can  put  an  end  to  these  dissensions 
among  ourselves. 

I  am  grieved  that  men  of  eminence,  men  of  genius,  men  who  have 
rendered  glorious  service  to  the  cause  of  Italian  unity,  should  drag  this 
question  into  the  field  of  debate,  and  there  discuss  it  with  (shall  I  say  it) 
with  puerile  arguments.  The  question  of  the  capital,  gentlemen,  is  not 
determined  by  climate,  by  topography,  nor  even  by  strategical  considera- 
tions. If  these  things  affected  the  selection,  I  think  I  may  safely  say  that 
London  would  not  be  the  capital  of  England,  nor,  perhaps,  Paris  of 
France.  The  selection  of  the  capital  is  determined  by  great  moral  rea- 
sons. It  is  the  will  of  the  people  that  decides  this  question  touching 
them  so  closely. 

In  Rome,  gentlemen,  are  united  all  the  circumstances,  whether  histor- 
ical, intellectual  or  moral,  that  should  determine  the  site  of  the  capital  of 
a  great  State.  Rome  is  the  only  city  with  traditions  not  purely  local. 
The  entire  history  of  Rome  from  the  time  of  Caesar  to  the  present  day  is 
the  history  of  a  city  whose  importance  reaches  far  beyond  her  confines  ;  of 
a  city  destined  to  be  one  of  the  capitals  of  the  world.  Convinced,  pro- 
foundly convinced,  of  this  truth,  I  feel  constrained  to  declare  it  solemnly 
to  you  and  to  the  nation,  and  I  feel  bound  to  appeal  this  matter  to  the 
patriotism  of  every  citizen  of  Italy,  and  to  the  representatives  of  her  most 
eminent  cities,  that  discussions  may  cease,  and  that  he  who  represents  the 


g30  COUNT  CAMILLO  DI  CAVOUR 

nation  before  other  powers  may  be  able  to  proclaim  that  the  necessity  of 
having  Rome  as  the  capital  is  recognized  by  all  the  nation.  I  think  I  am 
justified  in  making  this  appeal  even  to  those  who,  for  reasons  which  I 
respect,  differ  with  me  on  this  point.  Yet  more  ;  I  can  assume  no  Spartan 
indifference  in  the  matter.  I  say  frankly  that  it  will  be  a  deep  grief  to 
me  to  tell  my  native  city  that  she  must  renounce  resolutely  and  definitely 
all  hope  of  being  the  seat  of  government. 

Yes,  gentlemen,  as  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  it  is  no  pleasure 
to  go  to  Rome.  Having  little  artistic  taste,  I  feel  sure  that  in  the  midst 
of  the  splendid  monuments  of  ancient  and  modern  Rome  I  will  lament  the 
plain  and  unpoetic  streets  of  my  native  town.  But  one  thing  I  can  say 
with  confidence  :  knowing  the  character  of  my  fellow-citizens  ;  knowing 
from  actual  facts  how  ready  they  have  always  been  to  make  the  greatest 
sacrifices  for  the  sacred  cause  of  Italy  ;  knowing  their  willingness  to  make 
sacrifices  when  their  city  was  invaded  by  the  enemy,  and  their  promptness 
and  energy  in  its  defence  ;  knowing  all  this,  I  have  no  fear  that  they  will 
uphold  me  when,  in  their  name  and  as  their  deputy,  I  say  that  Turin  is 
ready  to  make  this  great  sacrifice  in  the  interests  of  united  Italy. 

I  am  comforted  by  the  hope — I  may  even  say  the  certainty — that 
when  Italy  shall  have  established  the  seat  of  government  in  the  eternal 
city,  she  will  not  be  ungrateful  to  this  land  which  was  the  cradle  of  lib- 
erty ;  to  this  land  in  which  was  sown  that  germ  of  independence  which, 
maturing  rapidly  and  branching  out,  has  now  reached  forth  its  tendrils 
from  Sicily  to  the  Alps. 

I  have  said  and  I  repeat :  Rome,  and  Rome  only,  should  be  the  cap- 
ital of  Italy. 


I 


PRINCE  OTTO  VON  BISMARCK  (I8J5-J898) 

THE  MAN  OF  BLOOD  AND  IRON 


"^  T  EVER  has  Europe  had  a  political  magnate  of  more  dictatorial 
\\  disposition,  indomitable  persistence,  and  devotion  to  one  idea, 
*  '  than  the  great  German  Chancellor,  Otto  Edward  Leopold, 
Prince  Von  Bismarck-Schonhausen.  We  give  his  full  title,  but  Bis- 
marck alone  is  the  name  by  which  he  is  and  is  destined  to  be  known. 
His  one  idea  was  to  revive  the  German  Empire,  under  the  leadership 
of  Prussia.  The  Holy  Roman  Empire,  once  a  very  powerful  organi- 
zation, under  German  supremacy,  had  passed  from  existence  during 
the  Napoleonic  period.  Bismarck  did  not  wish  to  revive  this,  but  to 
form  an  empire  confined  to  the  German  States.  Appointed  Prime- 
minister  in  1862,  he  brought  about  the  war  with  Denmark  in  1864, 
and  with  Austria  in  1866,  followed  by  alliances  between  Prussia  and 
the  other  large  German  States,  and  the  North  German  Confederation, 
composed  of  twenty-two  States.  Then,  in  1870,  came  the  war  with 
France,  followed  by  the  union  of  all  the  German  States  under  King 
William  of  Prussia,  who  was  crowned  Emperor  of  Germany  at  Ver- 
sailles in  1871.  Such  was  the  great  work  of  Bismarck's  life.  Created 
Prince  and  Chancellor  in  1866,  he  remained  Chancellor  of  the  Empire 
till  1890.  But  the  new  Emperor,  William  II.,  was  not  the  man  to 
submit  to  a  dictator,  and  Bismarck  resigned,  to  dwell  in  private  life 
for  a  number  of  years,  a  caustic  critic  of  the  imperial  measures.  A 
formal  reconciliation  between  the  Emperor  and  the  **  Man  of  Blood 
and  Iron"  took  place  in  1894. 

LOYALTY  TO  PRUSSIA 

[The  Imperial  crown  had  been  offered  to  the  King  of  Prussia  at  an  earlier  date, 
but  declined.  This  was  after  the  revolution  of  I848,  when  a  German  parliament  was 
established  and  a  feeble  form  of  union  formed.     In  the  following  3-ear  the  crowa 

63X 


632 


PRINCE   OTTO    VON    BISMARCK 


was  offered  to  Frederick  William  IV.,  then  the  Prussian  King.  Bismarck,  then  a 
member  of  the  Prussian  Chambers,  opposed  the  project,  unless  Prussia,  as  a  king- 
dom, should  benefit  by  it.     We  append  a  characteristic  extract  from  his  speech.] 

I  am  more  inclined  to  believe  that  Frederick  II.  would  have  turned, 
for  a  solution  of  the  question,  to  the  most  prominent  characteristic  of  the 
Prussian  nation, — its  warlike  element, — and  not  without  success.  For  he 
would  have  known  that  now,  too,  as  in  the  da3^s  of  our  fathers,  the  sound 
of  the  trumpet  summoning  all  to  the  standard  of  their  sovereign  lord 
has  not  yet  lost  its  charm  for  the  Prussian  ear,  be  it  for  the  defence  of  our 
own  frontiers  or  for  the  glory  and  greatness  of  Prussia.  After  the  rupture 
with  Frankfort  he  would  have  had  the  choice  of  allying  himself  with  Aus- 
tria, his  old  comrade-in-arms,  and  of  assuming  the  brilliant  role  played  by 
the  Emperor  of  Russia  in  assisting  Austria  to  annihilate  the  common  foe, 
revolution  ;  or  it  would  have  been  open  to  him,  after  rejection  of  the 
Imperial  Frankfort  crown,  by  the  same  right  as  that  by  which  he  had 
conquered  Silesia,  to  decide  for  the  Germans  in  the  matter  of  their  Con- 
stitution at  the  risk  of  his  casting  the  sword  into  the  scale.  That  would 
have  been  a  national  Prussian  policy.  In  the  former  case  community  with 
Austria,  in  the  latter  her  own  exertions,  would  have  given  Prussia  the 
proper  position  for  helping  Germany  to  be  the  Power  in  Europe  which  it 
ought  to  be.  But  the  draft  Constitution  annihilates  specific  Prussianism, 
which  has  saved  the  country  from  the  revolution  and  almost  alone  sur- 
vived it It  was  a  Prussian  regiment  which  on  the  i8th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1848,  saved  us  from  the  Frankfort  Parliament  conjured  up  against 

us It  was  the  attachment  of  the  Prussian  people  to  their  ruling 

house — it  was  the  old  Prussian  virtues  of  honor,  loyalty,  obedience  and 
bravery,  which  permeate  the  army  from  its  framework,  the  corps  of  offi- 
cers, to  the  youngest  recruit.  This  army  cherishes  no  Tricolor  enthusiasm . 
In  it,  as  among  the  rest  of  the  people,  you  will  not  find  any  longing  for 
national  regeneration.  It  is  content  with  the  name  of  Prussian,  and 
proud  of  it,  too.  These  hosts  will  follow  the  black  and  white  banner,  but 
not  the  Tricolor,  and  under  the  former  gladly  die  for  their  country.  Nay, 
since  the  i8th  March,  they  have  come  to  regard  the  Tricolor  as  the  badge 
of  their  opponents.  Familiar  to  and  beloved  by  them  are  the  strains  of 
the  *' Prussian  Air,"  the  *' Old  Dessauer"  and  the  "  Hohenfriedberg  " 
marches,  but  I  have  never  yet  heard  a  Prussian  soldier  sing  **  What  is  the 
German's  Fatherland  ?"  The  people  from  whom  this  army  is  drawn,  and 
who  are  most  truly  represented  by  it,  have  no  desire  to  see  their  Prussian 
kingdom  melt  away  in  the  putrifying  ferment  of  South  German  anarchy. 
Their  loyalty  does  not  cleave  to  an  imperial  paper  presidency,  nor  to  a. 
princely  board  of  six,  but  rather  to  a  free  and  living  King  of  Prussia,  the 


PRINCE  OTTO   VON    BISMARCK  633 

heir  of  his  forefathers  ;  and  what  this  people  wills  we  also  wish  with  it. 
We  all  desire  to  behold  the  Prussian  eagle  spread  its  protecting  and  con- 
trolling pinions  from  the  Memel  to  the  Donnersberg  ;  but  free  we  wish  to 
see  it,  not  fettered  by  a  new  Diet  of  Ratisbon,  and  not  clipped  in  the  wings 
by  that  equalizing  hedgehook  whereof  we  well  remember  that  it  was  first 
at  Gotha  converted  into  an  instrument  of  peace,  while  but  a  few  weeks 
previously  in  Frankfort  it  was  brandished  as  a  threatening  weapon  against 
Prussianism  and  the  ordinances  of  our  King.  Prussians  we  are,  and  Prus- 
sians we  will  remain.  I  know  that  in  these  words  1  but  express  the  creed 
of  the  Prussian  army  and  of  the  majority  of  my  countrymen  ;  and  I  hope 
to  God  that  we  shall  also  remain  Prussians  long  after  this  bit  of  paper 
[the  German  Constitution]  has  moldered  away  like  a  withered  autumn 
leaf. 

PRUSSIA  AND  THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION 

[The  Constitution  adopted  by  the  revolutionary  German  Parliament  was  by  no 
means  satisfactory  to  Bismarck,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  express  his  opinion  of  it  in 
plain  words.] 

Gentlemen,  it  has  pained  me  to  see  Prussians  here,  and  not  only  nom- 
inal Prussians,  who  adhere  to  this  Constitution  and  warmly  defend  it ;  it 
has  been  humiliating  to  me,  as  it  would  have  been  to  thousands  and  thou- 
sands of  my  countrymen,  to  see  the  representatives  of  Princes,  whom  I 
honor  in  their  lawful  sphere,  but  who  are  not  my  sovereign  lords,  to  see 
them  invested  with  supreme  power ;  and  the  bitterness  of  this  feeling  was 
not  softened  at  the  opening  of  this  Assembly  by  my  seeing  the  seats  on 
which  we  sit  adorned  with  colors  which  were  never  the  colors  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire,  but,  for  the  last  two  years,  rather  the  badge  of  rebellion  and 
barricades — colors  which,  in  my  native  country,  apart  from  the  democrats, 
are  only  worn  in  sorrowful  obedience  by  the  soldier.  Gentlemen,  if  you 
do  not  make  more  concessions  to  the  Prussian,  to  the  old  Prussian  spirit, — 
call  it  what  you  will, — than  you  have  hitherto  done  in  this  Constitution, 
then  I  do  not  believe  in  its  realization  ;  and  if  you  attempt  to  impose  this 
Constitution  on  this  Prussian  spirit,  you  will  find  in  it  a  Bucephalus*  who 
carries  his  accustomed  lord  and  rider  with  daring  joy,  but  will  fling  to  the 
earth  the  presuming  Cockney  horseman,  with  all  his  trappings  of  sable, 
red  and  gold.  But  I  am  comforted  in  my  fear  of  these  eventualities  by 
the  firm  belief  that  it  will  not  be  long  before  the  parties  come  to  regard 
this  Constitution  as  the  two  doctors  in  Lafontaine's  fable  did  the  patient 
whose  corpse  they  had  just  left.  "He  is  dead ;"  said  one,  "  I  said  he 
would  die  all  along. "  ' '  Had  he  taken  my  advice, ' '  quoth  the  other,  *  *  he 
would  be  still  alive." 


*  The  war  horse  of  Alexander  the  Great,  which  none  but  he  could  mount  or  ride. 


FRANCESCO  CRISPI  (J8J9-I90t) 

AN  ITALIAN  STATESMAN  AND  PREMIER 


ERANCESCO  CRISPI  filled  the  double  role  of  statesman  and 
soldier.  In  1848  he  was  concerned  in  the  revolution  at 
Palermo  and  had  to  flee  for  his  life.  In  1859  he  organized  a 
new  and  successful  movement,  and  went  as  major  under  Garibaldi  in 
his  invasion  of  Sicily.  In  the  new  Italian  kingdom  he  became 
deputy  and  minister/and  was  prime  minister  of  the  kingdom  1887-91 
and  1894-96  ;  the  Italian  disasters  in  Abyssinia  finally  forcing  him 
to  resign.  His  powers  as  a  statesman  and  his  talent  in  oratory  gave 
him  great  weight  in  the  Italian  governmental  affairs. 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  POPE  TO  THE  STATE 

[At  the  unveiling  of  the  Garibaldi  monument  at  Rome  during  the  fetes  of  1895, 
Crispi  delivered  the  principal  oration.  In  his  remarks  he  diverged  from  the  main 
subject  to  define  the  relation  of  the  Pope  to  the  State.] 

The  enemies  of  Italian  unity  have  endeavored  to  prove  that  the 
present  celebration  is  an  insult  to  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Their  object  is  to  excite  conscientious  scruples  against  our  country.  But 
the  common  sense  of  the  people  is  proof  against  such  tricks,  because  we 
all  know  that  Christianity  is  a  divine  institution,  which  is  not  dependent 
upon  earthly  weapons  for  its  existence.  The  religion  of  Christ  preached 
by  Paul  and  Chrysostom  was  able  to  subdue  the  world  without  the  aid  of 
temporal  arms,  and  we  cannot  conceive  that  the  Vatican  should  persist  in 
wishing  for  temporal  sovereignty  to  exercise  its  spiritual  mission.  The 
Gospel,  as  we  all  believe,  is  truth.  If  it  has  been  disseminated  by  apos- 
tolic teachings,  such  teachings  are  sufficient  for  its  existence. 

It  is  not  really  for  the  protection  and  prestige  of  religion  that  our 
adversaries  demand  the  restoration  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Holy  See, 
but  for  worldly  reasons,  from  lust  of  power  and  from  earthly  covetousness. 
634 


i, 

I 


FRANCESCO    CRISPI  635 

They  do  not  consider  that  temporal  sovereignty  cannot  be  saintly  and 
above  sin ;  that  it  cannot  aspire  to  celestial  perfection  in  this  world. 
Material  weapons  and  legal  violence,  justified  by  reasons  of  State,  should 
not  belong  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth,  who  is  to  preach  peace,  to  pray 
and  to  pardon.  Religion  is  not,  and  it  cannot  be,  an  afifair  of  State.  Its 
mission  is  to  console  believers  with  the  hope  of  everlasting  life  and  to 
uphold  the  spirit  of  faith 

The  Italians,  by  promulgating  the  law  of  May,  187 1,  have  solved  a 
problem  which  seemed  incapable  of  solution.  In  this  country,  where  free- 
dom of  thought  and  of  conscience  is  acknowledged,  unlimited  liberty  has 
been  granted  to  the  Head  of  the  Church  with  reference  to  his  sacred  ofl&ce 
and  his  irresponsibility  and  inviolability.  In  regard  to  his  acts,  the  Pope 
is  subject  only  to  God,  and  no  human  potentate  can  reach  him.  He  exer- 
cises a  sovereign  authority  over  all  those  who  believe  in  him — and  they 
are  many  millions — while  he  is  surrounded  by  all  the  honors  and  privi- 
leges of  royalty  without  the  drawbacks  of  civil  power,  without  the  hatred, 
the  resentment,  and  the  penalties  inseparable  from  such  power.  No  earthly 
prince  is  in  a  similar  position  or  on  the  same  level.  His  position  is 
unique.  He  has  no  territory  to  govern.  Indeed,  any  extent  of  territory 
would  be  inadequate  for  his  position,  and  yet  all  the  world  is  subject  to  his 
spiritual  power.  Were  he  a  temporal  prince  his  authority  would  be 
diminished,  because  it  would  be  equal  to  that  of  other  rulers,  and  he 
would  cease  to  be  pre-eminent.  He  would  be  exposed  to  continual  strug- 
gles, as  he  has  struggled  for  centuries  to  the  detriment  of  the  faith  and  of 
his  spiritual  authority.  We  have  made  him  an  independent  sovereign, 
and  as  such  he  is  superior  to  all  other  princes.  In  this  lies  his  power. 
He  exercises  the  office  by  virtue  of  authority  ;  he  corresponds  with  all  the 
world  ;  he  prays ;  he  protects,  without  needing  protection,  because  the 
Italian  kingdom  is  his  shield.  Consequently,  no  earthly  weapon  can  reach 
him;  and  the  outrages  inflicted  upon  Boniface  VIII.  cannot  be  repeated. 

Catholics  should  be  grateful  to  Italy  for  the  services  which  we  have 
rendered  to  the  Roman  pontiff.  Before  September  20,  1870,  he  was 
obliged  to  bow  before  the  princes  of  the  earth,  and  concordats  were  con- 
cessions of  divine  right  made  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Church.  It  was  only 
when  relieved  of  his  temporal  dominion  that  Pius  IX.  could  cope  with 
Bismarck  and  make  that  man  feel  the  power  of  spiritual  arms.  All  this 
is  our  handiwork,  the  work  of  our  Parliament  and  our  king.  I  will  say 
more;  it  was  the  will  of  God,  because  the  Almighty  willed  that  Italy 
should  gather  her  provinces  together  and  become  an  equal  of  other 
nations. 


EMILIO  CASTELAR  (J 8324899) 

THE  ORATOR  OF  THE  CORTES  OF  SPAIN 


mHE  life  of  Castelar  was  one  of  adventure  and  diversity.  In  1856, 
a  professor  of  history  and  philosophy  at  Madrid;  in  1864,  editor 
of  La  Democracia — a  newspaper  whose  title  tells  its  character — 
in  1866,  condemned  to  death  as  a  revolutionist,  and  fleeing  for  life; 
back  again  in  the  successful  revolution  of  1868 ;  speaking  earnestly 
against  the  crowning  of  King  Amadeus,  and  bringing  about  his 
downfall  in  1873  ;  then  made  President  by  the  short-lived  repub- 
lic— which  was  soon  overthrown  by  the  opposing  elements  in  the 
State.  In  1874  he  was  forced  to  resign  and  again  seek  exile,  but 
in  1876  he  was  back  in  the  Cortes  once  more,  and  continued  to 
speak  there  with  all  his  old  fire  and  eloquence  till  his  withdrawal 
from  public  life  in  1893. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

[Instead  of  giving  an  extract  from  Castelar's  political  speeches,  we  prefer  to 
present  his  graceful  and  enthusiastic  eulogy  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  man  after  his  own 
heart,  and  whose  lofty  character  he  could  fully  appreciate.  With  a  few  strokes  Cas- 
telar succeeds  in  painting  a  large  picture,  presenting  Lincoln  to  us  as  one  of  those 
marvels  in  human  history  that  the  centuries  rarely  bring  forth.] 

The  Puritans  are  the  patriarchs  of  liberty  ;  they  opened  a  new  world 
on  the  earth ;  they  opened  a  new  path  for  the  human  conscience ;  they 
created  a  new  society.  Yet,  when  England  tried  to  subdue  them  and  they 
conquered,  the  republic  triumphed  and  slavery  remained.  Washington 
could  only  emancipate  his  own  slaves.  Franklin  said  that  Virginians  could 
not  invoke  the  name  of  God,  retaining  slavery.  Jay  said  that  all  the 
prayers  America  sent  up  to  Heaven  for  the  preservation  of  liberty  while 
slavery  continued  were  mere  blasphemies.  Mason  mourned  over  the 
payment  his  descendants  must  make  for  this  great  crime  of  their  fathers. 
Jefferson  traced  the  line  where  the  black  wave  of  slavery  should  be  stayed. 
636 


EMILIO    CASTELAR  637 

Nevertheless,  slavery  increased  continually.  I  beg  that  you  will 
pause  a  moment  to  consider  the  man  who  cleansed  this  terrible  stain 
which  obscured  the  stars  of  the  American  banner.  I  beg  that  you  will 
pause  a  moment,  for  his  immortal  name  has  been  invoked  for  the  perpetua- 
tion of  slavery.  Ah  !  the  past  century  has  not,  the  century  to  come  will 
not  have,  a  figure  so  g^and,  because  as  evil  disappears,  so  disappears  hero- 
ism also. 

I  have  often  contemplated  and  described  his  life.  Bom  in  a  cabin 
of  Kentucky,  of  parents  who  could  hardly  read  ;  born  a  new  Moses  in  the 
solitude  of  the  4.esert,  where  are  forged  all  great  and  obstinate  thoughts, 
monotonous  like  the  desert,  and,  like  the  desert,  sublime  ;  growing  up 
among  those  primeval  forests,  which,  with  their  fragrance,  send  a  cloud 
of  incense,  and,  with  their  murmurs,  a  cloud  of  prayers  to  Heaven  ;  a 
boatman  at  eight  years  in  the  impetuous  current  of  the  Ohio,  and  at  seven- 
teen in  the  vast  and  tranquil  waters  of  the  Mississippi  ;  later  a  woodman, 
with  axe  and  arm  felling  the  immemorial  trees,  to  open  a  way  to  unex- 
plored regions  for  his  tribe  of  wandering  workers  ;  reading  no  other  book 
than  the  Bible,*  the  book  of  great  sorrows  and  great  hopes,  dictated  often 
by  prophets  to  the  sound  of  fetters  they  dragged  through  Nineveh  and 
Babylon ;  a  child  of  Nature,  in  a  word,  by  one  of  those  miracles  only 
comprehensible  among  free  peoples  he  fought  for  the  country  and  was 
raised  by  his  fellow-citizens  to  the  Congress  at  Washington,  and  by  the 
nation  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic  ;  and  when  the  evil  grew  more 
virulent,  when  those  States  were  dissolved,  when  the  slaveholders  uttered 
their  warcry,  and  the  slaves  their  groans  of  despair — the  woodcutter,  the 
boatman,  the  son  of  the  great  West,  the  descendant  of  Quakers,  humblest 
of  the  humble  before  his  conscience,  greatest  of  the  great  before  history, 
ascends  the  Capitol,  the  greatest  moral  height  of  our  time,  and  strong  and 
serene  with  his  conscience  and  his  thought ;  before  him  a  veteran  army, 
hostile  Europe  behind  him  ;  England  favoring  the  South  ;  France  encour- 
aging reaction  in  Mexico,  in  his  hands  the  riven  country ;  he  arms  two 
million  men,  gathers  a  half  million  of  horses,  sends  his  artillery  twelve 
hundred  miles  in  a  week,  from  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  to  the  shores  of 
Tennessee ;  fights  more  than  six  hundred  battles ;  renews  before  Rich- 
mond the  deeds  of  Alexander,  of  Caesar ;  and,  after  having  emancipated 
three  million  slaves,  that  nothing  might  be  wanting,  he  dies  in  the  very 
moment  of  victory — like  Christ,  like  Socrates,  like  all  redeemers,  at  the 
foot  of  his  work.  His  work  !  Sublime  achievement !  over  which  humanity 
shall  eternally  shed  its  tears,  and  God  his  benediction  ! 


*  An  error  due  to  imperfect  information  on  the  part  of  the  speaker.    Lincoln  read  almost  every 
book  that  came  in  his  way. 


Or      T    Af 


AMERICAN   ORATORS 


Name  Page 

Adams,  Charles  Francis 327 

Adams,  John  Quincy 94 

Adams,  Samuel 29 

Ames,  Fisher 43 

Anthony,  Susan  B 339 

Beecher,  layman 254 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward 263 

Benton,  Thomas  H 1O6 

Beveridge,  Albert  J 199 

Blaine,  James  G 164 

Brooks,  Phillips 270 

Brown,  George 233 

Brown,  Henry  Armitt 321 

Brownlow,  William  G 273 

Bryan,  William  J 218 

Calhoun,  John  C 90 

Channing,  William  BUery 256 

Chapin,  Edwin  H 267 

Choate,  Rufus 102 

Choate,  Joseph  H 203 

Clay,  Henry 73 

Clemens,  Samuel  L 370 

Cleveland,  Grover 330 

Cockran,  Bourke 380 

Colfax,  Schuyler 157 

Collyer,  Robert 276 

Conkling,  Roscoe 182 

Cook,  Joseph 311 

Corwin,  Thomas 109 

Cox,  Samuel  S 185 

Crittenden,  John  J 112 

Curtis,  George  W 308 

Daniel,  John  W 168 

Davin,  Nicholas  F 236 

Davis,  Henry  Winter 151 

Davis,  Jefferson 132 

Depew,  Chauncey  M 356 

Dickinson,  Anna  E 352 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.     ..••...  125 

Douglass  Frederick 148 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo 305 

Evarts,  William  M 154 

Everett,  Edward 98 

Foraker,  Joseph  B 212 

Garfield,  James  A 160 

Gough,  John  B 314 

Grady,  Henry  W 206 

Gunsaulus,  Frank  W 28$ 

Hale,  Edward  Everett 362 

Hamilton,  Alexander 32 

Harrison,  Benjamin 191 

Hayne,  Robert  Y .  79 

Henry,  Patrick 19 

Hill,  Benjamin  H 171 

638 


Namb 


Page 


Hoar,  George  F 176 

Howe,  Joseph 228 

Ingalls,  John  J 179 

IngersoU,  Robert  J 317 

Jefferson,  Joseph 376 

Knott,  James  Proctor 383 

I/amar,  I^ucius  Q.  C 173 

lyaurier,  Sir  Wilfrid 244 

lyce,  Fitzhugh 367 

Ivee,  Henry 47 

lyincoln,  Abraham 120 

lyivermore,  Mary  A 342 

Ivockwood,  Belva  Ann 348 

Ivodge,  Henry  C 209 

Lowell,  James  Russell 364 

Macdon aid,  Sir  John  Ao    ......  230 

Madison,  James 38 

Marshall,  John 57 

Marshall,  Thomas  F 115 

McKinley,  William 194 

Mitchell,  John 390 

Moody,  Dwight  L, 289 

Morris,  Gouverneur 53 

Otis,  James 23 

Parker,  Theodore 259 

Phillips,  Wendell 301 

Porter,  Horace 373 

Potter,  Henry  Codman 282 

Prentiss,  Sergeant  S 297 

Quincy,  Josiah 62 

Randolph,  John 66 

Reed,  Thomas  B 215 

Reid,  Whitelaw 360 

Roosevelt,  Theodore     .......  221 

Schutz,  Carl 188 

Seward,  William  H 145 

Smith,  Goldwin 241 

Smith,  Charles  Emory     ......  378 

Stanton,  Elizabeth  Cady  ...        •    •  336 

Stephens,  Alexander  H 135 

Stevens,  Thaddeus 129 

Story,  Joseph 294 

Sumner,  Charles 141 

Talmage,  Thomas  DeWitt 279 

Thompson,  Sir  John 249 

Toombs,  Robert 138 

Tupper,  Sir  Charles 238 

Warren,  Joseph 26 

Washington,  Booker  T.    ......  332 

Watterson,  Henry 323 

Webster,  Daniel 83 

Willard,  Frances  E 345 

Wirt,  William 69 

Wu  Ting  Fang 3^7 


EUROPEAN   ORATORS 


Name  Page 

.'Eschines 410 

Antony,  Mark 425 

Bacon,  Francis 456 

Beaconsfield,  Earl  of 543 

Bismarck,  Prince  Otto  von     ....  632 

Bossuet,  Jacques  Benigne 443 

Bourdaloue,  I^ouis 446 

Bright,  John 553 

Brougham,  Lord  Henry 521 

Burke,  Edmund 476 

Caesar,  Caius  Julius 417 

Calvin,  John 441 

Canning,  George 510 

Castelar,  Emilio 637 

Cato,  Marcus  Porcius 413 

Cavour,  Count  Camillo  di 629 

Chamberlain,  Joseph 560    J^ 

Chatham,  Earl  of 472/1^ 


Name 


Page 


Knox,  John 567 

Kossuth,  Louis 622 


Lamartine,  Alphonse  de 
Latimer,  Hugh  .... 
Luther,  Martin   .... 
Lysias 


Chesterfield,  Earl  of  . 468 

Cicero,  Marcus  Tullius 420 

Cobden,  Richard 540 

Coke,  Sir  Edward 459 

Cousin,  Victor 607 

Crispi,  Francesco 635 

Cromwell,  Oliver 466 

Curran,  John  Philpot 493 

Danton,  George  Jacques 598 

Demosthenes 404 

Eliot,  Sir  John 461 

Emmet,  Robert 505 

Erskine,  Lord  Thomas 485 


Fenelon,  Francois 449  L^mith,  Sydney   .    .    . 

48B^^purgeon,  Charles  H. 


Fox,  Charles  James 


Gambetta,  Leon 619 

Gladstone,  William  Ewart 547 

Gracchus,  Caius 415 

Grattan,  Henry 489 

Hugo,  Marie  Victor 616 


Macaulay,  Thomas  Babington 

Magnus,  Albertus 

Manning,  Henry  Edward    .    . 

Marat,  Jean  Paul , 

Massillon,  Jean  Baptiste  ,    .    . 

Mazzini,  Giuseppe 

Mirabeau,  Count  Honors  de  . 


610 

564 
438 
398 

536 
436 
578 
602 
452 
625 

590 


Newman,  John  Henry 575 


Council,  Daniel 517 


Palmerston,  Viscount 
Parker,  Joseph  .  .  . 
Parnell,  Charles  S.  . 
Peel,  Sir  Robert     .    . 

Pericles 

Pitt,  William  .... 
Pym,  John 


Robespierre,  Maximilien  Isidore  de 
Russell,  Lord  John 


Saint  Augustine 

Saint  Bernard 

Saint  Chrysostom 

Shell,  Richard  L 

Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley 


Stanley,  Arthur  Penrhyn 
Thiers,  Louis  Adolphe  .    . 


524 
587 
557 
526 

395 
502 

463 

604 
529 

430 

434 
452 
533 
496 
513 
584 
581 

613 


Vergniaud,  Pierre 595 

Wesley,  John 569 

Whitefield,  George 572 

Wilberforce,  William 500 

There  are  704  pages  in  this  volume.    The  sixty-four  full-page  half-tone  illustrations  should  be 
added  to  the  last  folio  number  indicated  (640)  givinga  total  of  704  pages. 

631> 


Isocrates 


401 


i 


1 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

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This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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